A major breakthrough has been made in the independent innovation of China's chip industry, marking that China's semiconductor manufacturing industry is moving to a higher level.
In the global semiconductor industry chain, China is actively seeking technological breakthroughs to reduce its dependence on external supply chains. Recently, China's semiconductor manufacturing industry has made a major breakthrough, and its independent innovation ability has been significantly improved, marking that China's semiconductor manufacturing industry is moving to a higher level.
China's semiconductor industry has huge potential, and has now become the world's largest semiconductor consumer market, with rich market resources and strong industrial support. However, for a long time, there has been a certain gap in China's semiconductor technology, especially in high-end chip manufacturing, and its independent research and development capabilities are relatively weak. This latest technological breakthrough shows that China's semiconductor manufacturing industry is struggling to bridge that gap.
Breakthrough in material technology
China's breakthrough in semiconductor manufacturing technology mainly comes from two aspects. It is a breakthrough in material technology. Through joint efforts, China's scientific research institutions and semiconductor companies have successfully developed a new type of silicon-based material. This material not only has excellent electrical properties, but also has a low manufacturing cost, which can greatly improve the performance of the chip and reduce the manufacturing cost.
It is understood that this new silicon-based material is made on the basis of traditional silicon materials, doped with other elements and special treatment. Its electron mobility is more than 30% higher than that of ordinary silicon materials, and its thermal stability is also greatly improved. This means that chips made of this material will perform better in high-frequency and high-temperature operating environments.
The material's manufacturing costs are also significantly reduced. Traditional silicon materials need to be grown in an ultra-high vacuum environment for a long time, and the energy consumption and equipment investment are high. The new material adopts a new type of rapid growth technology, which can be quickly prepared in an ordinary environment, thus greatly reducing the manufacturing cost. It is said that if the switch to this new material is completely switched, the manufacturing cost of the chip will be reduced by more than 20%.
Breakthrough in process technology
It is a breakthrough in process technology. China's semiconductor companies have successfully achieved mass production of the 7nm process, which is a very important milestone and marks a major breakthrough in semiconductor manufacturing technology in China. This 7nm process chip has higher computing speed and lower energy consumption, which can meet the needs of future high-performance computing, 5G, artificial intelligence and other fields.
It is understood that the chip integration of the 7nm process is twice that of 14nm, and the number of transistors is as high as more than 30 billion. Compared with the previous generation of 14nm process, the 7nm process improves chip computing performance by 40% and energy efficiency by 63%. This means that in 5G communications, artificial intelligence and other fields, 7nm chips will have better performance.
China's breakthrough in the 7nm process did not happen overnight. As early as a few years ago, domestic companies began to develop advanced process technologies of 7nm and below. They not only independently developed a series of key processes and equipment, but also introduced foreign advanced technology, and finally achieved 7nm mass production through digestion, absorption and re-innovation.
The localization of the industrial chain has been accelerated
Behind this technological breakthrough is the long-term efforts and accumulation of China's semiconductor industry. The Chinese government's strong support for the semiconductor industry, as well as the company's own unremitting efforts, have provided strong support for this technological breakthrough. This not only reflects the independent innovation capability of China's semiconductor industry, but also shows China's increasingly important position in the global semiconductor industry chain.
In recent years, the Chinese government has introduced a series of policies and measures to support the development of the semiconductor industry. Including the establishment of a national industrial investment fund, increase fiscal and tax support, improve the talent training system, etc. China has also accelerated the pace of localization of the semiconductor industry chain, making breakthroughs in key materials, equipment and process technology.
For example, in the field of semiconductor equipment manufacturing, Chinese companies have mastered a series of core technologies and have begun to move towards high-end processes. It has been reported that China has achieved the localization of equipment for the 7nm process, which provides important support for chip manufacturing.
In the field of materials, Chinese companies have also made great progress. In addition to the new silicon-based materials mentioned above, domestic manufacturers have independent supply capabilities in key materials such as photoresists, targets, and polishing slurries. According to statistics, the overall localization rate of China's semiconductor materials has reached 20%-30% in 2021.
While China's semiconductor industry has made significant progress, the challenges remain daunting. Especially in the R&D and industrialization of higher process nodes, such as 5nm and 3nm processes, China still needs to catch up with and surpass the international advanced level. Semiconductor equipment and materials are also one of the shortcomings of China's semiconductor industry chain, how to break foreign technical barriers, improve independent supply capacity, is an important topic for the future development of China's semiconductor industry.
In response, the Chinese government has taken a series of measures to promote the development of the semiconductor industry. This includes providing financial support, encouraging technological innovation, promoting semiconductor education and talent development, and more. These measures have provided a strong backing for the development of China's semiconductor industry and laid a solid foundation for the realization of the independence and high-end of the semiconductor industry.
On the enterprise side, China's semiconductor companies are also actively engaged in technology research and development and innovation. They have not only increased their investment in research and development of new technologies, but also actively introduced overseas high-end talents to improve their own technology research and development capabilities. The cooperation between enterprises is also getting closer and closer, forming an innovative model of enterprise-oriented and in-depth integration of industry, education and research, which provides a strong impetus for the technological breakthrough of China's semiconductor industry.
In China, the semiconductor industry will face more opportunities and challenges. With the rapid development of emerging technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, the performance requirements for chips will become higher and higher. Chinese semiconductor companies must accelerate the pace of innovation and constantly break through technological bottlenecks in order to occupy a dominant position in the future wave of science and technology. The improvement and localization process of China's semiconductor industry chain also need to be further accelerated, so as to truly achieve independence, controllability, safety and efficiency.
The latest breakthrough in China's semiconductor industry marks an acceleration of the mainland's catch-up in this critical area. Although there is still a certain gap with the international advanced level, as long as it maintains its concentration and adheres to independent innovation, China will eventually achieve corner overtaking in the field of semiconductors and make important contributions to the construction of a scientific and technological power and a manufacturing power.