China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals.
State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month.
Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers.
Photo: AFP
MIIT’s claimed advances last week suggest that homegrown Chinese companies are beginning to make headway in developing more sophisticated machines, although SMEE and its peers have a long way to go to catch the likes of ASML Holding NV.
The resolution of the gear determines the scale at which integrated circuits can be imprinted onto silicon, and ASML’s best lithography machines now have a resolution of about 8 nanometers.
One approach to improve the density of transistors is etching lower-resolution patterns multiple times, as used by Huawei Technologies Co (華為), which helps narrow the gap.
Still, the US-led trade campaign to limit China’s access to advanced chipmaking equipment has stifled its competitiveness in developing nascent technologies such as artificial intelligence, which require the most advanced semiconductors.
In its note, the MIIT also named a slew of additional home-developed chip-related gear it wanted to see put into wider use, including oxidation furnaces and dry-etching gear.
SMEE has developed a lithography machine that can be used to make 28-nanometer chips, key state backer Zhangjiang Group (張江集團) declared last year.
However, it is unclear whether that machine has gone into production and how it relates to last week’s notice from the MIIT.
While it is widely believed that China would struggle to move far beyond its current level of sophistication — as exemplified by Huawei’s 7-nanometer Kirin mobile chip introduced a year ago — the lack of transparency has elicited concern in Washington about the effectiveness of its sweeping export controls on China and pressing the Netherlands for tighter restrictions on ASML’s China business.
China relies on ASML’s immersion deep ultraviolet lithography systems to advance its chipmaking technology, as the country has not yet been able to develop similarly capable equipment, but under US pressure, ASML is now barred from shipping to China.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
RSS