Guide
The product delivered by Shanghai Microelectronics this time is an "advanced encapsulated lithography machine" for IC post-channel manufacturing, and it is not a "lithography machine" that is usually considered by the industry to be used in the front-end of ic manufacturing, and the technical difficulty gap between back-end manufacturing and front-end manufacturing is very large.
Lithography machine is the core equipment of chip manufacturing, but also the most difficult to develop semiconductor equipment, is the mainland integrated circuit industry, and even the entire information and communication industry, and even the development of the digital economy "card neck" technology.
For a long time, Asma has monopolized the world's top lithography machine market, but this monopoly is gradually being dismantled. According to the official information from Shanghai Microelectronics Equipment (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shanghai Microelectronics"), Shanghai Microelectronics recently held the delivery ceremony of China's first 2.5D/3D advanced encapsulated lithography machine.
However, it should be pointed out that the "Shanghai Microelectronics delivered China's first lithography machine" that boiled on social media is very imprecise, and the mood of netizens is completely understandable, but we still have to look at this event objectively and calmly. The product delivered by Shanghai Microelectronics this time is an "advanced encapsulated lithography machine" for IC post-channel manufacturing, and it is not a "lithography machine" that is usually considered by the industry to be used in the front-end of ic manufacturing, and the technical difficulty gap between back-end manufacturing and front-end manufacturing is very large.
The first state-of-the-art encapsulated lithography machine!
In September last year, Shanghai Microelectronics held a new product launch conference and announced the launch of a new generation of large field of view high-resolution advanced encapsulated lithography machine.
The new lithography machine launched this time is mainly used in the field of high-density heterogeneous integration, with high resolution, high engraving accuracy and large exposure field of view, etc., which can help wafer-level advanced packaging enterprises to realize the application of multi-chip high-density interconnect packaging technology, meet the application needs of heterogeneous integration of ultra-large chip packaging size, and will help packaging and testing manufacturers to improve the process level and develop new processes. Shanghai Microelectronics said that it has reached a new generation of advanced packaging lithography machine sales agreements with a number of customers.
Shanghai Microelectronics pointed out that advanced encapsulated lithography machine is the company's current main product, and its global market share has ranked first for many years. The products shipped this time are a new generation of advanced packaging lithography machines, mainly used in high-end data center high-performance computing (HPC) and high-end AI chips and other high-density heterogeneous integration fields, which can meet the needs of 2.5D/3D ultra-large chip size first-packaging applications, representing the highest level of similar products in the industry, and is of great significance to enriching the product range of Shanghai microelectronics.
The front and back roads still need to be distinguished
From the perspective of semiconductor chip manufacturing process, the equipment used in the wafer manufacturing process is called the front process equipment. Among them, the lithography machine is the highest technical barrier in semiconductor equipment, and its research and development is difficult, but the value accounts for 30% of the wafer manufacturing equipment. The equipment used in the packaging and testing process is called the back-end process equipment, which can be divided into test equipment and packaging equipment.
In fact, since the "Tenth Five-Year Plan", Shanghai Microelectronics has undertaken a number of special tasks for the development of lithography machines. At present, Shanghai Microelectronics has its own products in both the back road process equipment and the front road process equipment. According to the data on the official website, the 500 series lithography machine is mainly used for the advanced packaging of the IC back road; while the 600 series lithography machine is used for the front channel manufacturing of the IC.
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. That is to say, in terms of front-end manufacturing, there is still a big gap between the mainland and overseas advanced technology.
(Source: Semiconductor Chip Manufacturing Technology, Southwest Securities)