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If you remember that the lithography machine is divided into the front road and the back road, the difficulty of the front road lithography machine is much higher than the back road lithography machine, and your knowledge level exceeds 90% of the people.
On February 7, 2022, Shanghai Microelectronics held the first 2.5D/3D advanced packaging lithography machine delivery ceremony, which marked the official delivery of China's first 2.5D/3D advanced packaging lithography machine to customers. What does this news mean? Is it that China has broken through the lithography machine? No.
I've introduced it before (what is the right way for Chinese chips?) ——Yuan Lanfeng, November 29, 2020, watched the video answer year-end show speech), chip manufacturing is divided into five steps. First, the silica, that is, sand, is converted into polysilicon. Second, the polysilicon is refined into monocrystalline silicon, and then the monocrystalline silicon is cut into disks, that is, wafers. Third, manufacture various devices on the wafer. Fourth, encapsulation. Fifth, testing. The last two steps are also often referred to collectively as closed testing.
The five stages of chip manufacturing
None of these five steps is easy, and the most difficult is the third step, which is to make the circuit on the wafer. The core technology of this step is lithography, and the lithography machine we usually say refers to the kind used in this step, ASML monopolizing the high-end market. The fourth step of the package will also use a lithography machine, but the technical content, difficulty and price are far less than the previous one.
What lithography is
The industry often refers to the production of integrated circuits as the front-channel process, and the packaging as the post-process. Shanghai Microelectronics sold the rear lithography machine this time, which is not the same thing as the front road lithography machine that everyone pays attention to. The progress in this regard is certainly gratifying, but it is not on the same road as solving the chip card neck problem. If you remember that the lithography machine is divided into the front road and the back road, the difficulty of the front road lithography machine is much higher than the back road lithography machine, and your knowledge level exceeds 90% of the people.
The SSX600 series step-scan projection lithography machine adopts a projection objective with a four-fold reduction magnification, process adaptive focus leveling technology, and high-speed and high-precision self-damping six-degree-of-freedom workpiece stage masking stage technology, which can meet the lithography process requirements of 90nm, 110nm, 280nm critical layers and non-critical layers in the front of the IC. The equipment can be used for large-scale industrial production of 8-inch or 12-inch lines.
Do you see? In terms of the front road lithography machine, the highest level of Shanghai microelectronics, and the highest level in China, is 90 nanometers. TSMC's asML polar ultraviolet lithography machine has already produced 5 nanometers in energy, and strives to mass-produce 3 nanometers in the second half of 2022. The gap is enormous. Many people do not know this basic information, think that China has or will soon master the fully autonomous 28-nanometer process, and even clamor for TSMC to drive it away, which is a complete misunderstanding. It is good to have enterprising ambitions, but the correct approach is to know oneself and know the other, seek truth from facts, and work hard in a down-to-earth manner, rather than bragging and deceiving others like some self-media.