Xiao Zhen Fish and Sheep from The Temple of Ofei
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Unexpectedly, the already fragile semiconductor supply chain under the epidemic has been aggravated this time because of the fire between Russia and Ukraine.
It is not the issue of the United States and Japan sanctioning Russia and restricting semiconductor exports, but -
Raw materials are afraid that the supply will be cut off, and the price is dangerous.
The key word is neon.
This inert gas, which is crucial for semiconductor lithography, is one of the indispensable raw materials for most mainstream lithography machine "light sources".
Ukraine, on the other hand, is the world's largest exporter of neon gas, accounting for about 70% of the global market.
According to the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily", the domestic lithography gas benchmark manufacturer Kemet Gas said that the price of neon gas has now increased:
Now two or three days a price, the price fluctuates a lot. We sell through distributors, mainly abroad. And the quotation of foreign enterprises is higher than that of domestic enterprises.
In the face of the risk of supply disruption, lithography giant ASML has said that it is looking for a "spare tire".
Previously, during the tense period in Crimea, the price of neon gas rose by 600%.
One of the important raw materials of mainstream lithography technology
So, what role does neon gas play in chip manufacturing?
In simple terms, it is an important raw material for generating a "light source" in the lithography machine, and the lithography machine has very high requirements for the wavelength of the light source.
The shorter the wavelength, the more detailed the circuit carved out, and the smaller the chip process.
Using rare gases, not only can you obtain a laser with a shorter wavelength, but also a relatively more stable wavelength.
Among them, especially the current large-scale application of THEV deep ultraviolet lithography machine, which is still the mainstream, requires a large amount of neon gas.
Specifically, duV lithography machines use lithography gases to create light sources, which is a mixture of noble gases and fluorine.
Common lithography gases are argon-fluoron-neon mixture, krypton-neon mixture, argon-neon-neon mixture, argon-neon-neon mixture and so on.
When manufacturing, it is necessary to use high pressure to excite these rare mixtures of gases, resulting in electron transitions, thereby producing light with a stable wavelength, and forming a light source through processes such as polymerization filtering.
When the electrons outside the nucleus transition, if they jump to a low energy level, they will release photons, and after repeatedly amplifying the energy in the gain medium, they will be emitted to form a laser with a stable wavelength.
△ Image source Wikipedia
That is, as a buffer gas, neon gas is ubiquitous in a variety of laser gases and is used to provide efficient energy.
For example, in the ArF (argon fluoride) laser mainly used in the DUV lithography machine, neon gas accounts for more than 96% of the gas mixture.
With a high-quality light source, the lithography machine can further manufacture the chip.
The specific principle is somewhat similar to the effect of our "projection", using light to remove the "protective film" (photoresist) applied to the surface of the wafer, so that the part that loses the photoresist can be corroded by the chemical liquid and form a circuit.
△ Photoresist is not sensitive to yellow light, and yellow light is usually used between lithography
Of course, at present, lithography machines are also in further development.
From the earliest use of mercury lamps as a light source, to deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, to the next generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, EUV mainly through tin plasma to produce light sources, and ASML and other manufacturers are also trying to develop this new technology.
ASML looking for spare tires, Samsung Intel: No impact
Not only neon, but also Krypton and Xenon exports from Ukraine account for 40% and 30% of the global supply share, respectively.
Another important semiconductor material, palladium, comes from Russia for 40%.
U.S. chipmaker Micron said that the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict highlights the complexity and fragility of the semiconductor supply chain.
(p.s. The Prime Minister of Japan has announced that sanctions will be imposed on Russian financial institutions and restrictions on the export of semiconductors and other sensitive technologies over Ukraine)
In the face of market concerns, a number of chip manufacturers have publicly responded to this matter.
At present, Samsung, SK Hynix, Intel and other manufacturers have said that benefiting from diversified material sources, their chip production has not been affected.
TSMC, the world's largest chip foundry, declined to comment "at this time."
The key supplier behind these chip manufacturers, lithography giant ASML, said that the company is studying alternative sources of neon gas.
In fact, after the Crimean incident in 2014, the price of neon gas experienced a sharp rise. Many companies are turning to China, the U.S. and Canada for diversified supply.
ASML, for example, currently uses less than 20 percent of the neon gas used from conflict zones.
However, market analysis is still worried that the impact of the situation in Russia and Ukraine on chip production will be apparent in the long run.
A person familiar with the Japanese chip industry said:
Chipmakers have yet to feel any direct impact, but the companies that supply them with semiconductor manufacturing materials will buy things like neon and palladium from Russia and Ukraine. Supplies of these materials are already tight, so any further supply pressure could push up their prices, which in turn could lead to higher chip prices.
In addition, the data shows that the domestic lithography gas benchmark manufacturers Huate Gas and Kemet Gas rose the highest intraday increases of 28.93% and 14.8% respectively yesterday.
One More Thing
In fact, the impact of the situation in Russia and Ukraine on the field of science and technology is not limited to chips.
For example, long before the physical firing, various DDoS attacks were "preemptive" on Ukrainian networks.
DDoS is a network attack that generates a large number of packets or requests, causing the target computer network or system resources to be exhausted, making them inaccessible to normal users.
On the one hand, according to ZDNet, Ukraine's government websites and banks are facing DDoS attacks, and large banks including PrivatBank and Oschadbank have also suffered power outages.
According to Reuters, Russian hackers were believed to have carried out cyberattacks on Ukraine as early as 2015, when about 225,000 people were affected by the power outage.
Cybersecurity firm ESET, on the other hand, found that hundreds of machines in Ukraine were fitted with a "data removal virus" that had been around for the past few months.
Currently, the Ukrainian government is recruiting hacker volunteers to help protect some critical infrastructure and carry out cyber espionage missions against the Russian military.
In this regard, some netizens said that even if there is a willingness to carry out a cyber attack on Russia, there are too many things to consider, and it is estimated that no one is willing to participate in this matter in the end.
In addition, some netizens summed up a series of Internet products related to Ukraine.
For example, the founders of WhatsApp and PayPal are of Ukrainian origin, and the team behind Snapchat Mask technology, base Odessa...