(Report Producer/Author: Cinda Securities, Fang Jing)
1. Photoresist : Semiconductor core material in urgent need of localization
. Photoresist: A key link in the independence of the semiconductor industry
The photolithography process is The core process of manufacturing precision electronic devices such as semiconductors. The main process includes pre-processing, gluing, soft baking, alignment exposure, PEB, development, hard baking and inspection. The photolithography process leaves the photoresist with a fine geometric structure on the substrate through the above process, and then transfers the structure to the substrate through etching and other processes.
Photoresist, as one of the core factors affecting photolithography effects, is a key material in the electronics industry. photoresist is composed of three main components: solvent, photoinitiator and film-forming resin. It is a mixed liquid with photochemical sensitivity. It uses photochemical reactions to transfer the required fine patterns from the mask to the substrate to be processed through photolithography processes such as exposure and development. It is a key electronic chemical used in micro-processing technology. Because of its key role in the manufacturing process of electronic devices such as semiconductors and , photoresist has become one of the key materials for the electronics industry that is focused on the development of our country.
According to different development effects, photoresist can be divided into positive photoresist and negative photoresist . The exposed portion of the positive photoresist dissolves in the developer, and the pattern formed during development is the same as the pattern on the mask. The exposed portion of negative photoresist does not dissolve in the developer, and the pattern formed when developed is opposite to the mask. The production processes of the two are basically the same. Positive resist has become the mainstream semiconductor photoresist. Negative photoresist was first used in the semiconductor photolithography process. However, due to easy deformation and expansion during development, positive photoresist became the mainstream after the 1970s. At present, in the field of semiconductor photoresist, g-line, i-line, and ArF line are all dominated by positive resist .
According to different application fields, photoresist can be divided into PCB photoresist, LCD photoresist and semiconductor photoresist. Among them, PCB photoresist has the lowest technical barrier, and semiconductor photoresist has the highest technical barrier. PCB photoresist mainly includes dry film photoresist, wet film photoresist, and photoimaging solder mask ink. Photoresist in the LCD field mainly includes color photoresist and black photoresist, touch screen photoresist, and TFT-LCD photoresist. Semiconductor photoresists include ordinary Kuanpu photoresists, g-line (436nm), i-line (365nm), KrF (248nm), ArF (193nm) and the most advanced EUV (13.5nm) photoresists, with higher levels The higher the ultimate resolution, the greater the wiring density of the silicon wafer in the same area, and the better the performance.
Photoresist is at the core of the electronics industry chain and is a key link in the localization of semiconductors. Photoresist plays an important role in the electronics industry chain. Its upstream is the fine chemical industry, and its downstream is the semiconductor, printed circuit board , liquid crystal display and other electronic component manufacturing industries. Among them, semiconductors are the downstream field with the highest threshold for photoresist technology. In the process of semiconductor fine processing moving from micron level, sub-micron level, deep sub-micron level to nano-level, photoresist plays a decisive role, and its production and manufacturing has therefore become a key link in the independence of the semiconductor industry chain.
. The photoresist market is growing steadily, and semiconductors are in urgent need of localization.
The photoresist market is growing steadily, and mainland China leads the world. According to Cision data, the overall global photoresist market size was US$9.1 billion in 2019, and is expected to reach US$10.5 billion by 2022, with an average annual compound growth rate of 5%. Among them, as the world's largest importer and exporter of electronic products, China occupies the largest market share of photoresist. At the same time, as China's market influence in electronic components such as semiconductors, panels and PCBs increases year by year, the scale of the domestic photoresist market is rapidly expanding. According to SEMI data, the scale of China's photoresist market increased from 10 billion yuan to 10 billion yuan in 2015-2020. 17.6 billion yuan, with an average annual compound growth rate of 12.0%.
China lacks the supply capacity of semiconductor photoresist, and there is broad room for domestic substitution. In terms of categories, in the global photoresist market, semiconductor, LCD, and PCB photoresists each account for 27%, 24%, and 24% of the market share. Among them, semiconductor photoresist accounts for the highest proportion, and is also the most technically difficult market segment with the best growth potential. However, at present, my country's semiconductor photoresist and panel photoresist manufacturing capabilities are still weak. Chinese photoresist companies mainly produce photoresists for PCBs with low technical levels, accounting for 94% of the overall production structure. my country's local supply capacity of semiconductor photoresist and panel photoresist is very limited and mainly relies on imports. Therefore, there is broad room for domestic substitution.
. It started in Europe and America and became popular in Japan. Can mainland China take over?
The photoresist industry was first dominated by Europe and the United States, with Japanese manufacturers catching up. 839, the first "photolithography system" dichromate gelatin was born. After a hundred years of development, photoresist technology began to mature. In the 1950s, the German Kalle Company produced diazonaphthoquinone-phenolic resin printing materials. The exposure light source could use g-line or i-line. In the 1980s, IBM used self-developed KrF photoresist to break through KrF lithography technology. Subsequently, Tokyo Onka developed KrF positive photoresist in 1995 and achieved large-scale commercialization, so it quickly occupied the market. This marked the official entry of photoresist into the era of dominance of Japanese manufacturers.
Since then, photolithography technology has continued to advance, and ArF and EUV photoresists have been released. In 2000, JSR's ArF photoresist became the resist for the next-generation semiconductor 0.13μm process certified by the Semiconductor Process Development Alliance. In 2001, Tokyo Onka also launched its own ArF photoresist product. In 2002, Toshiba developed a low-molecular EUV photoresist with a resolution of 22nm. JSR jointly developed a chemically amplified EUV photoresist for the 15nm process in 2011 with SEMATECH.
At present, Japanese companies still maintain a monopoly in the field of photoresist. The core technology of photoresist is mastered by Japanese, European and American companies, and due to the special properties of photoresist, it is difficult for potential market entrants to conduct reverse analysis of the finished product. Therefore, the photoresist industry presents an oligopoly pattern of Japanese companies. The world's major photoresist companies include Japan's JSR, Tokyo Onka, and Shin-Etsu Chemical, the United States' Dow Chemical, South Korea's Dongjin Semiconductor, etc. The scale of China's photoresist industry is still small, but many manufacturers have actively deployed, including Jingrui Electric Materials, Beijing Kehua, Chinachem Technology, Shanghai Xinyang, etc.
. The four core barriers are the judgment criteria
There are four major barriers in the photoresist industry chain. From the upstream to the terminal, they are raw material barriers, formula barriers, equipment barriers and certification barriers. Among them, raw material barriers and formula barriers place higher requirements on photoresist manufacturers’ raw material synthesis and differentiated R&D capabilities. Equipment barriers are mainly used in research and development, with photolithography machine as the core semiconductor equipment. Since advanced semiconductor equipment is often expensive, this also constitutes one of the barriers to photoresist development. In addition, although photoresist is a core material for semiconductor manufacturing, its cost does not account for a high proportion of the overall manufacturing process. Therefore, downstream manufacturers have low willingness to replace it. In addition, photoresist itself has a certification cycle that lasts several years. Constitutes downstream certification barriers.
In the past, due to multiple barriers, domestic photoresist manufacturers could only survive in the cracks, and their products were basically concentrated on lower-end PCB photoresists. At present, domestic photoresist is in the replacement window period, and industry barriers are gradually being opened. First of all, after years of accumulation, domestic photoresist manufacturers have accumulated richer photoresist production technologies. Leading manufacturers such as Beijing Kehua and Jingrui Electrical Materials have emerged in high-end categories such as KrF and ArF. Therefore, formula barriers and raw material barriers are expected to be broken to a certain extent as domestic technology reserves are close to breaking through the singularity. At the same time, the rising capital market investment in photoresist has also significantly boosted the financing capabilities of photoresist companies.The essence of equipment barriers is financial barriers. With sufficient funds, domestic manufacturers are actively purchasing high-end equipment such as advanced photolithography machines to match the research and development of advanced process products. In addition, the demand for localization has enhanced the willingness of downstream wafer fabs to certify domestic photoresist suppliers. Coupled with unexpected events such as Shin-Etsu Chemical's supply interruption, domestic photoresists have entered an accelerated period of customer certification.
2. From semiconductors to PCBs, domestic photoresists continue to break through
From the perspective of market share, the market shares of semiconductor, PCB and LCD photoresists are close. Among them, semiconductors, as the downstream market with the strongest growth momentum, the broadest development space and the highest technological content, should be the core direction for domestic photoresist breakthroughs. At the same time, there is still a lot of room for the localization of PCB and LCD photoresists. Therefore, this chapter will classify and discuss the three major downstream application categories of photoresists to sort out the investment logic of different types of photoresists.
. Semiconductor photoresist: KrF, ArF as the core direction
Photolithography and etching determine the minimum feature size of the chip and are the most important processes in the manufacturing of large-scale integrated circuits . Photolithography and etching processes account for 40%-50% of chip manufacturing time and 30% of manufacturing costs. During the pattern transfer process, the silicon wafer is generally photolithographed more than ten times. Photoresist needs to go through silicon wafer cleaning, pre-baking, glue coating, pre-baking, alignment, exposure, post-baking, development, etching, etc. to transfer the pattern on the mask to the substrate to form the same pattern as the mask. The corresponding geometric figure.
As the semiconductor manufacturing process enters the nanoscale stage from the micron level, submicron level, and deep submicron level, the photosensitive wavelength of the supporting photoresist also changes from the ultraviolet broad spectrum to the g line (436nm) → i line (365nm) → KrF ( 248nm) → ArF (193nm) → F2 (157nm) direction shift to achieve higher density of integrated circuits, thereby meeting the market’s demand for semiconductor miniaturization and functional diversification.
ArF photoresist accounts for 40% of the semiconductor photoresist market and is currently one of the most important semiconductor photoresists. ArF photoresist is mainly used in the lithography process of DUV lithography machines using ArF excimer laser light sources. The photosensitive wavelength is 193nm and can be used in 130nm-14nm chip processes (dry type is mainly used in 130nm-65nm processes, and immersion type Mainly used in 65nm-14nm process), some wafer factories can even use ArF light source to achieve 7nm process. Taking the revenue structure of SMIC as an example, 66% of the revenue in 1Q21 comes from the ArF photoresist corresponding process, and its importance is evident.
Currently, KrF photoresist and g/i line photoresist occupy 22% and 24% respectively, and are both important mature process photoresists. KrF photoresist is mainly used in KrF laser light source photolithography process, corresponding to the process process of 250nm-150nm; while g/i line photoresist is mainly used in the photolithography process of high-pressure mercury lamp source, corresponding to the process process of 350nm and above. In addition, EUV photoresist for extreme ultraviolet lithography is currently the most advanced photoresist product in application processes. It is mainly used in photolithography processes for advanced processes of 7nm and below. This product is still in the early stages of application and its market share is relatively small. It is small and difficult to count, but it is expected to grow into one of the core market segments of photoresist in the future.
Japanese manufacturers occupy an absolutely dominant position in the field of semiconductor photoresist. From the overall market perspective, Japanese companies account for more than 70% of the photoresist market. Among them, JSR Co., Ltd. has achieved full coverage of photoresist products and is the world's leading photoresist manufacturer. Other major manufacturers include Tokyo Onika, Fuji Electronics, Shin-Etsu Chemical and Sumitomo Chemical of Japan, Dow Chemical of the United States and Dongjin Semiconductor of South Korea.
From the perspective of market segments, Japanese manufacturers almost monopolize the advanced process market. In the field of g/i line photoresist, in addition to Japanese manufacturers, there are also South Korea's Donjin Semiconductor and the United States' DuPont, which occupy 12% and 18% respectively. In the KrF field, the only major non-Japanese manufacturer left is DuPont of the United States, which accounts for 11%. Turning to the ArF photoresist market, DuPont’s share in the United States is only 4%. This market segment is almost monopolized by Japanese manufacturers.As for EUV photoresist, which currently has the most advanced process, it is monopolized by two Japanese factories, JSR and Shin-Etsu Chemical.
Domestic semiconductor photoresist companies mainly include Jingrui Electric Materials (Suzhou Ruihong), Tongcheng New Materials (Beijing Kehua), Shanghai Xinyang, Chinachem Technology (Xuzhou Bokang) and Nanda Optoelectronics , etc. Domestic photoresist products are mainly concentrated in the g/i line market, while KrF and ArF photoresists are still in the period of technology accumulation and market development.
However, domestic companies have made breakthroughs in products above KrF level. KrF In terms of photoresist: 1) Beijing Kehua and Xuzhou Bokang have the ability to supply batches; 2) Jingrui Electric Materials has completed pilot testing; 3) Shanghai Xinyang has passed customer certification and obtained its first order. In terms of ArF photoresist, five manufacturers have purchased ArF photolithography machines for product research and development, and are currently in the process of technology development or customer verification. In early July 2021, the ArF photoresist independently developed by Nanda Optoelectronics passed customer certification and became the first domestic ArF photoresist to pass product verification in China. In the future, as domestic photoresist companies continue to expand customers in the KrF field and complete technology layout in the ArF market, domestic photoresists are expected to achieve a comprehensive breakthrough.
. Panel photoresist: There is broad space for localization.
The photolithography process is also the core process of LCD panel manufacturing. Through processes such as coating, cleaning, photoresist coating, exposure, development, and etching, the graphics on the mask are transformed Transfer it to the film to form a geometric pattern corresponding to the mask plate, thereby producing TFT electrodes and color filters. Panel photoresist plays an important role in this and is a crucial core material in the upstream of the LCD industry chain.
panel photoresist is mainly divided into TFT-LCD photoresist, color photoresist, black photoresist, and touch screen photoresist. Three types of panel photoresists are used in different steps of the LCD manufacturing process. TFT-LCD photoresist is used to process fine pattern electrodes in the front-end Array process of the LCD panel; color photoresist and black photoresist are used to make color filters in LCD; touch screen photoresist is used to make touch electrodes.
With the transfer of the display industry, the domestic panel photoresist market has expanded rapidly. Since 2009, the panel industry chain has gradually shifted to China. After ten years of rapid expansion, China's panel industry has caught up. Currently, the world's top three LCD panel suppliers, BOE , CSOT , and Huike Optoelectronics, are all Chinese manufacturers, and China has dominated the LCD industry. As my country's panel production capacity continues to expand, the demand for panel photoresist, as a core material, is also increasing. According to data from the Industry Information Network, China's panel photoresist market grew from US$307 million to US$1.02 billion from 2015 to 2020, with an average annual compound growth rate of 27.14%.
Although the demand for LCD photoresist in the domestic market continues to grow, my country's panel photoresist production capacity is still seriously insufficient. At present, the production of panel photoresist is monopolized by Japanese and Korean manufacturers. Taking the most demanded color photoresist as an example, according to data from the Qianzhan Industrial Research Institute, Tokyo Yinghua, LG Chemical , Toyo Ink, Sumitomo Chemical, Mitsubishi Chemical, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese companies such as Chi Mei occupy more than 90% of the market share, and my country's local supply capacity is weak.
Against the background of the huge demand for LCD photoresist, domestic manufacturers are also actively promoting the localization of LCD photoresist. The main domestic manufacturers of panel photoresist include Beixu Electronics, Jingrui Electric Materials, Rongda Photosensitive, Yake Technology , Xinyihua , etc. At present, Beixu Electronics' Halftone photoresist suitable for the 4MASK process has been mass-produced. The high-resolution photoresist produced by the company has also passed preliminary customer certification, and the panel has been fully covered with positive photolithography machines. Feikai Materials TFT-LCD photoresist has formed stable sales, and the photoresist business for panels has increased significantly. Revenue in 2021Q1 increased by 53% year-on-year. Boyan Electronics' black photoresist has completed development and pilot testing, and the overall technology has reached internationally advanced levels.Jacques Technology acquired the production machinery, equipment, inventory, intellectual property rights, etc. of the LG chemical color photoresist division, and mastered the process technology of color photoresist and positive photoresist.
. PCB photoresist: Domestic manufacturers are flourishing
PCB photoresist is one of the important upstream raw materials for printed circuit boards, accounting for 3%-5% of PCB manufacturing costs. It can be divided into dry film photoresist, wet film photoresist and photoimaging solder mask ink. Dry film photoresist is made of liquid photoresist evenly coated on the carrier PET film on the coating machine under high cleanliness conditions. After drying and cooling, it is covered with the PE film and rolled up. Thin film photoresist. The working principle of wet film photoresist is to apply it on a copper-clad plate, dry it and then expose and develop it. The performance of
wet film photoresist is better than that of dry film, and it is currently accelerating the replacement of dry film photoresist. Wet film has the advantages of higher precision and lower price, and can meet the high performance requirements of PCB. But at the same time, the operation is more difficult, and the waste liquid will pollute the environment. dry film has the characteristics of strong adhesion, simple operation, easy processing and environmental friendliness, and has more advantages in processing high-density circuits. However, it is more likely to cause circuit defects.
photo-imaging solder mask ink is an ink that acts as a solder resist in the PCB manufacturing process. It can prevent short circuits caused by solder wiring and ensure the safety of printed circuit boards during production, transportation, storage and use. , Electrical performance stability.
Relying on my country’s advantages in labor and resources, the PCB industry has begun to shift domestically since the 21st century. Domestic manufacturers have gradually mastered the core technology of key upstream raw materials for PCB, effectively reducing costs and significantly increasing production capacity. According to estimates from the China Business Industry Research Institute, the global output value of printed circuit boards in 2019 was approximately US$63.7 billion, and my country's PCB market size reached US$32.94 billion, accounting for more than 50% of the global market and making it the world's largest PCB producer. The output value is expected to reach US$37.05 billion in 2021. At the same time, between 2000 and 2019, the share of Japan, the United States and Europe's production capacity fell from 70% to 7%.
my country has now become the leader of the world's PCB industry chain, and as one of the key raw materials for PCB, the demand for PCB photoresist is also increasing. According to estimates from the Industrial Information Network, my country's PCB photoresist market size will be 8.5 billion yuan in 2020. As PCB develops towards higher precision, the market will have higher requirements for the quality of PCB photoresist.
Although my country owns nearly half of the world's PCB production capacity, the PCB photoresist market is still dominated by Japan. According to calculations by the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, three companies, Changxing Chemical of Taiwan, Asahi Kasei of Japan, and Hitachi Chemical of Japan, account for over 80% of the dry film photoresist market share. According to data from the Industrial Information Network, in terms of photo-imaging solder mask inks, only one Japanese company, Sun Ink, occupies 60% of the world market share.
According to data from the China Business Industry Research Institute, my country’s PCB photoresist localization rate is about 50%. Since the technical barriers of PCB photoresist are much lower than those of LCD photolithography machines and semiconductor photoresists, among the three types of photoresists, the domestic replacement process of PCB photoresists is the fastest. Domestic enterprises in China already account for more than 50% of the domestic PCB market. Among my country's PCB photoresist manufacturers, local companies account for 60%.
The research and development process in the domestic market has been accelerated. At present, domestic enterprises such as Rongda Photosensitive, Guangxin Materials, Oriental Materials, and Beijing Rio Tinto have occupied about 50% of the domestic market share of wet film photoresist and photoimaging solder mask ink. Among domestic companies, Feikai Materials , Rongda Photosensitive, Guangxin Materials, etc. have already put into production corresponding PCB photoresist products. Guangxin Materials Co., Ltd. has an annual output of 8,000 tons of photosensitive materials and has ramped up its production of PCB ink series products. Rongda's photosensitive automotive PCB solder mask ink has been successfully used in many well-known brands of cars. The current annual sales volume is more than 100 tons. In the future, it will increase investment in research and development and actively promote the market.
3. Wafer fab expansion + Shin-Etsu supply cuts, domestic substitution enters the window period
In the field of semiconductor photoresist, the core of the photoresist industry, the current trend of domestic substitution is intensifying. In addition to downstream manufacturers supporting domestic production from the perspective of supply chain security In addition to factors such as photoresist and national policy support, there are also demand explosions and certification windows brought about by the expansion of domestic and foreign wafer fabs. In addition, global photoresist giant Shin-Etsu Chemical has reduced production due to the earthquake, cutting off supplies to some small and medium-sized wafer fabs, further exacerbating the shortage of semiconductor photoresist products and providing a valuable alternative window period for domestic photoresist companies.
. The wave of wafer fab expansion is coming, and the photoresist market is growing again.
Global wafer fabs are making efforts to build new lines, driving the growth of photoresist demand. In order to meet the growing and strong demand for semiconductors in 5G communications, new energy vehicles, high-performance computing, online services and automation, the world's major semiconductor manufacturers will build 19 and 10 new high-capacity wafer fabs respectively in the next two years. . Mainland China and Taiwan will build 8 fabs each in the next two years, and the United States will build 6 new fabs. After the completion of these 29 wafer plants, the wafer production capacity will be increased by 2.6 million pieces per month, which is expected to drive the global semiconductor photoresist market to continue to grow rapidly.
The construction of domestic wafer fabs is in full swing, and photoresist has entered the certification window period. Since the Sino-US trade conflict, the country has paid more and more attention to the chip industry, and mainland China's semiconductor manufacturers are accelerating their production expansion. For example, after the completion of the production lines under construction of Yangtze Memory and Unisoc Microelectronics , each will have an additional production capacity of 300,000 pieces per month. SMIC currently has three production lines under construction. Jinghe Integration has a production line under construction of 40,000 pieces/month and a planned production line of 160,000 pieces. After being put into production, each will release an additional 200,000 pieces of new production capacity every month. As of August 2021, major domestic wafer fabs plan to expand production capacity by approximately 4.6848 million pieces/month (8 inches), and the expected new production capacity in 2021 alone is approximately 755,800 pieces/month (8 inches).
The expansion of wafer fab capacity in mainland China will significantly boost the market demand for domestic photoresist. At the same time, compared with stable production lines, photoresist products are less difficult to introduce to customers in newly built production lines. Therefore, domestic photoresist companies are expected to enter the golden period of industry development along with the construction of downstream wafer fabs.
. Unexpected events exacerbated the shortage of supply, and large fund investments showed confidence
The Japanese earthquake led to the reduction of Shin-Etsu Chemical photoresist production, and the supply gap opened a window for domestic substitution . On February 13, 2021, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake occurred in the eastern waters of Fukushima, Japan. , Japan's major photoresist manufacturer Shin-Etsu Chemical's local KrF production line was damaged and forced to suspend production. Therefore, it restricted the supply of KrF photoresist to many wafer fabs in mainland China, and notified small-scale wafer fabs to stop supplying KrF photoresist. Because Japan's Shin-Etsu Chemical occupies about 22% of the world's KrF photoresist market share. Therefore, Shin-Etsu's production cuts will leave a large gap in the supply of KrF photoresist, which is a valuable alternative opportunity for domestic companies.
The unexpected incident is expected to accelerate the verification of domestic photoresist. Domestic photoresists have formed a relatively rich technology accumulation after years of development. At present, KrF and ArF photoresists of many domestic manufacturers are already in product verification, such as the ArF dry method of Beijing Kehua, Shanghai Xinyang and Xuzhou Bokang. Photoresist and KrF photoresist from Jingrui Electronics, etc. The unexpected supply cutoff by Shin-Etsu has undoubtedly exacerbated the shortage of photoresist, and has also indirectly accelerated the verification of domestic photoresist.
Large funds increase their investment in photoresist manufacturers to show their confidence. In July 2021, Ningbo Nanda Radio and Television, a subsidiary of Nanda Optoelectronics Holdings, plans to introduce the second phase of the strategic investor large fund through capital increase and share expansion. The second phase of the Big Fund will use RMB 183 million to subscribe for Nanda Optoelectronics’ new registered capital of RMB 67 million.The second phase of the Big Fund's investment in Ningbo Nanda Broadcasting and Television will not only expand the company's financial strength, but also further enhance the company's collaboration with leading domestic semiconductor equipment and chip manufacturing companies, thereby accelerating the development of the photoresist business and changing the domestic high-end photolithography Glue is subject to one's current situation.
4. Accelerate layout, seize opportunities, and promote localization of photoresist
Currently, in the field of semiconductor photoresist, domestic manufacturers still lag behind Japanese and Korean leading companies in terms of technical strength, market influence, and share. However, with the trend of fab expansion and the localization of semiconductors in full swing, Chinese photoresist manufacturers have ushered in an excellent period of development opportunities. At present, some leading companies, such as Jingrui Electric Materials and Beijing Kehua, have begun to emerge and achieve breakthroughs from zero to one in the fields of high-end photoresists such as KrF and ArF. China's photoresist industry is expected to enter a period of rapid growth.
. Jingrui Electric Materials: A pioneer in the field of domestic photoresist, accelerating scientific research on high-end products
Jingrui Electric Materials is a platform high-tech enterprise of microelectronic materials. It focuses on the two major directions of pan-semiconductor materials and new energy materials. Products include photoresists and supporting materials, ultra-clean and high-purity reagents, lithium battery materials and basic chemical materials, etc., which are widely used in semiconductor, new energy, basic chemical and other industries.
Subsidiary Suzhou Ruihong has been deeply engaged in photoresist for nearly 30 years and has a wide range of product types. Suzhou Ruihong, a subsidiary of Jingrui Electronic Materials, started photoresist production in 1993 and undertook and completed the national 02 special "i-line photoresist product development and industrialization" project. The company has been committed to the research, development and production of photoresist products for nearly 30 years. The photoresist product types cover high, medium and low resolution I-line and G-line UV positive photoresists, cyclized rubber-type negative photoresists, chemical amplification Type photoresist, thick film photoresist and other types, the application industry covers IC, TFT-array, LED, Touch panel, advanced packaging and other fields.
In terms of semiconductor photoresist, the company's g-line and i-line products have achieved mass production, and its customers include first-class domestic manufacturers. Suzhou Ruihong has completed the technical development of a variety of g-line and i-line photoresist products and achieved sales. We have obtained supply orders from domestic companies such as SMIC, Yangjie Technology, and Fushun Microelectronics, and have conducted tests at well-known semiconductor factories such as Silan Microelectronics, Jilin Huawei, and Shenzhen Founder. The company is currently expanding its market share of g/i line photoresist.
At the same time, the company continues to promote scientific research on KrF/ArF deep ultraviolet photoresist. Currently, KrF (248nm deep ultraviolet) photoresist has completed pilot testing. The product resolution has reached the technical requirements of 0.25~0.13µm, and a pilot demonstration line has been established. The company purchased the ASML900Gi photolithography equipment in the second half of 2020, and the research and development of ArF high-end photoresist was officially launched, aiming to develop ArF (193nm) photoresist that meets the 90-28nm chip manufacturing process.
In terms of LCD photoresist, the company and Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd. established a joint research institute for LCD color photoresists in Suzhou in 2016 to provide domestic testing for Mitsubishi Chemical's color photoresists and evaluation for Chinese domestic customers. testing services, and began mass production and supply to display panel manufacturers in 2019.
The company continues to invest in research and development resources and introduce high-end technical talents. The company’s R&D investment in 2020 was 33.847 million yuan, accounting for 3.31% of operating income, and its R&D personnel increased to 96, accounting for 16.6% of its employees. As of the end of 2020, the company and its holding subsidiaries have obtained 70 authorized patents, including 43 invention patents and 27 utility model patents, including 17 authorized invention patents related to photoresist. The company attaches great importance to the introduction of high-end technical talents, and recently invited Mr. Chen Weifan to serve as the general manager of the photoresist division. Mr. Chen Weifan has been deeply involved in the semiconductor industry for nearly 20 years. He has worked for well-known semiconductor companies such as Powerchip, ASE, AU Optronics, Micron (Taiwan, China), TOK, etc., especially in the technology research and development, market development and development of high-end photoresist products. Has extensive experience in evaluation implementation. The addition of Mr. Chen Weifan will greatly increase the company’s R&D and marketing speed of high-end photoresists.
As the domestic substitution process in my country's chip manufacturing industry accelerates, the sales of the company's core products, photoresist and supporting materials, achieved the best results in history in 2020, with annual sales of 179 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.98%. At the same time, the proportion of the photoresist business in the company's operating income has also increased significantly, reaching 17.52% in 2020.
. Beijing Kehua: With independent research and development capabilities for high-end photoresists, KrF photoresist has achieved mass production and shipment
Beijing Kehua is a holding subsidiary of the listed company Tongcheng New Materials , and 56.56% of its equity is held by Tongcheng New Materials . Beijing Kehua is a high-tech enterprise specializing in photoresists and supporting reagents, integrating R&D, production and sales of advanced photoresists. Since its establishment in 2004, it has undertaken a number of key national photoresist R&D and industrialization projects. The company's product series is complete, covering KrF (248nm), I-line, G-line, and UV wide-spectrum photoresists. At present, high-resolution G-line positive resist, I-line positive resist, and KrF-248nm deep ultraviolet photoresist for integrated circuits have been built and mass-produced. Its products have been widely used in integrated circuits, light-emitting diodes, discrete devices, advanced packaging and other fields. With its advanced technology and stable product quality, the company has become a stable partner of top customers in the industry. The company's main customers include SMIC, Shanghai Huali Microelectronics, Yangtze Memory, China Resources Shanghai, Hangzhou Silan, Jilin Sino Microelectronics, Sanan Optoelectronics, Huacan Optoelectronics, etc.
With the expansion of product lines and customer introduction, the company's revenue scale has increased year by year. From 2016 to 2020, the company's revenue increased from 56.13 million yuan to 89.29 million yuan, with an average annual compound growth rate of 12%. In the first half of 2021, with the acceleration of domestic substitution and the upward trend in the industry, the company's revenue scale has entered a period of rapid growth, achieving revenue of 56.4783 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.74%. In addition, the company actively increases investment in research and development to support the development of high-end photoresist products. R&D expenditures from 2018 to 2020 were 9.34 million, 20.18 million and 37.8 million yuan respectively, accounting for approximately 40% of revenue.
Beijing Kehua’s technical team has strong R&D capabilities. The international team led by founder Chen Xin has been engaged in the photoresist industry for nearly 30 years. It has many photoresist experts and has raw material synthesis, formula and related basic evaluation capabilities. At the same time, the company's analysis and application testing equipment platform is relatively complete. The company has mainstream equipment such as ASML PAS5500/850 scanning exposure machine with a resolution of 0.11um, Nikon step exposure machine, TEL ACT8 all-in-one coating and development machine, and Hitachi S9220 CD SEM. The complete analysis and application testing platform that supports product development and factory inspection ensures the company's smooth progress in KrF, G/I line photoresist products and key raw materials.
The company's product line is complete and rich, covering KrF (248nm), G/I line (including broad spectrum) and other mainstream categories, mainly including KrF photoresist DK1080, DK2000, DK3000 series; g-i line photoresist KMP C5000, KMP C7000 , KMP C8000, KMP EP3100 series and KMP EP3200A series; negative glue KMP E3000 series used in Lift-off process; BN, BP series used for discrete devices, etc. In order to ensure production, Kehua has built a high-end photoresist production base, with a hundred-ton level cyclized rubber-based UV negative photoresist and a kiloton-level negative photoresist supporting reagent production line, and a G/I line positive resist production line ( 500 tons/year) and positive resist supporting reagent production line (1000 tons/year), 100-ton 248nm photoresist production line and many other photoresist production lines.
At the same time, the company's ArF photoresist resin has also entered the experimental research and development stage. In August 2021, the company used self-raised funds of 698 million yuan to invest in the "ArF high-end photoresist research and development platform construction project". It mainly studies the development of ArF wet photoresist industrial production technology and establishes standardized production and control processes to improve The quality control level of high-end photoresist enables mass production of 193nm wet photoresist. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
, Shanghai Xinyang: Photolithography machines are in place one after another, accelerating the industrialization of photoresist
Shanghai Xinyang is a manufacturer of electronic chemicals and supporting equipment for semiconductors. In the field of semiconductor packaging materials, the company's functional chemical materials sales and market share rank first in the country. In the field of semiconductor manufacturing materials, the company's chip copper interconnect plating solutions, additives, and post-etching cleaning solutions have achieved large-scale industrialization. In addition, the company is actively developing high-end semiconductor photoresists and has made major breakthroughs in the fields of ArF dry process, KrF thick film adhesive and I-line photoresist.
The company attaches great importance to R&D investment, and R&D expenses and the number of R&D personnel are increasing year by year. As of the end of 2020, the company's R&D team has 161 people, accounting for 26.35% of the company's total employees. In the semiconductor business technology development team, 95% of the personnel have a bachelor's degree or above, 20% have a master's degree or above, and nearly 30% of the technical staff have more than 10 years of industry experience. The company's total R&D investment in 2020 was 80.2746 million yuan, accounting for 11.57% of the annual operating income, of which R&D investment in the semiconductor business accounted for 20.60% of the semiconductor business. As of the end of 2020, the company has applied for 275 patents, including 139 invention patents. The high-end photoresist project for integrated circuit manufacturing is one of the company's key projects for R&D investment in 2020.
The company is steadily advancing the photoresist project, and some products have achieved excellent off-line test data. The high-end photoresist products currently being developed by for integrated circuit manufacturing include I-line photoresist, KrF photoresist, ArF dry photoresist for logic and analog chip manufacturing, and KrF thick film photoresist for memory chip manufacturing. Resistor, as well as supporting materials such as bottom anti-reflective film (BARC). The company's ArF dry process, KrF thick film and other pilot photoresist products for integrated circuit manufacturing have achieved excellent customer test results. Among them, the KrF (248nm) thick film photoresist product has passed customer certification and successfully achieved first place. order. In addition, the ArF wet photoresist project research and development carried out by the subsidiary Xinke Micro has introduced a core technical expert team to provide technical support for the development of the ArF wet photoresist project.
photolithography equipment is gradually in place, which will help accelerate the industrialization of the company's photoresist technology. The Nikon-i14 photolithography machine purchased by is used for the research and development of I-line photoresist, the Nikon-205C photolithography machine is used for the research and development of KrF photoresist, and the ASML-1400 is used for the research and development of ArF dry photoresist. Type photolithography machine, as well as the ASML XT 1900 Gi photolithography machine used for the development of ArF immersion photoresist have all arrived at the factory. The company's photolithography equipment has been put into operation one after another, providing the necessary guarantee for the company's development of photoresist products for the entire industry chain for integrated circuit manufacturing.
In addition, the company will raise 815 million yuan in 2020 to invest in the research and development and industrialization of high-end photoresists for integrated circuit manufacturing. It mainly develops photoresists used in the ArF dry process in integrated circuit manufacturing and 3D NAND (flash memory) , which belongs to non-volatile memory) step-etched KrF thick film photoresist products. The company expects that KrF thick film photoresist can achieve stable mass production and sales in 2022, and ArF (dry) photoresist will begin stable mass production and sales in 2023. After the successful research and development of this project, the company will master the large-scale production technology of ArF dry photoresist and KrF thick film photoresist with complete intellectual property rights, including raw material purification process, formula process and production process, and can achieve both Mass production and supply of large categories of photoresist products and supporting reagents.
. Huamao Technology: Laying out the field of new materials, increasing investment in Bokang to enter photoresist
Huamao Technology is a system component provider focusing on the field of automotive safety. Its product line covers passive components such as automotive airbag cloth, airbag bags and seat belts. For safety system components, the domestic market share ranks among the top. While is consolidating its automotive sector business, it is gradually expanding into the semiconductor photoresist industry with more growth potential and technical barriers by participating in the establishment of industrial funds, extending the company's industrial chain.
subsidiary increased capital in Xuzhou Bokang to enter the photoresist field. Dongyang Kaiyang, a subsidiary of Chinachem Technology, increased its capital by 30 million yuan to Xuzhou Bokang in 2020 and provided a convertible loan of 550 million yuan and an investment of 220 million yuan to Fu Zhiwei, the actual controller of Xuzhou Bokang. Through this move, Chinachem Technology holds a total of 26.7% of Xuzhou Bokang's equity, thus realizing its layout in the field of photoresist, a key semiconductor material.
Xuzhou Bokang is a leading company in the field of photoresist in China, with a complete industrial chain layout from photoresist collagen materials to finished products. Xuzhou Bokang, founded in 2010, is a leading domestic high-tech enterprise in electronic chemicals, engaged in the R&D, production and sales of mid-to-high-end chemicals in the field of photolithography materials. The company's photoresist supply chain has achieved a complete layout from monomers, photoresist special resins, photoacid agents and final product photoresists. Its monomer product customers include leading semiconductor material manufacturers such as Intel and JSR.
In terms of R&D strength, Xuzhou Bokang has a professional R&D team and advanced R&D equipment, and cooperates with multiple domestic integrated circuit professional platforms. Xuzhou Bokang has an international standard R&D center covering an area of 5,000 square meters in Songjiang Caohejing Science and Technology Oasis, with a R&D team of more than 200 people, of which more than 50% are PhDs and masters. The company has equipped KrF Nikon S204, I9, I12, ACT8 track, Hitachi CDSEM and other advanced photolithographic testing equipment, as well as other physical and chemical testing equipment such as ICP-MS, HPLC, GC, IR, etc. At the same time, the company’s 193nm photoresist monomer research and development project has obtained the national “02 Special Project” sub-project approval. In addition, the company cooperates with multiple domestic integrated circuit professional platforms, including the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the School of Microelectronics of Fudan University and other platforms or enterprises.
Xuzhou Bokang’s photoresist products are rich in types and can cover a variety of application fields. company has successfully developed more than 40 mid-to-high-end photoresist product series, including KrF/ArF photoresist monomer, KrF/ArF photoresist, G-line/I-line photoresist, electron beam photoresist and GHI ultra-thick negative glue and other product types cover various application fields such as IC integrated circuit manufacturing, IC back-end packaging, compound semiconductors, discrete devices, and electron beams.
Xuzhou Bokang has further increased its photoresist production capacity by building a new production base. Xuzhou Bokang is currently building a new production base. After the project is fully completed and put into operation, it will have a total annual production capacity of 1,100 tons of photolithography materials and 10,000 tons of electronic grade solvents. It can achieve an annual output value of 2 billion yuan. It is expected to become the most complete product in China. One of the photoresist material R&D and manufacturing bases with the highest technical level.
, Nanda Optoelectronics: ArF has passed the certification and is scheduled to increase the code expansion
Nanda Optoelectronics is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the research, development, production and sales of high-purity electronic materials. By undertaking major national technology research projects and achieving industrialization, the company has grown from many At this level, the long-term foreign monopoly in the industry has been broken, and the layout of the three key semiconductor materials of precursors, electronic special gases, and photoresists has been basically formed.
The company's photoresist technology research and development has always adhered to a completely independent route. The company is independently developing and industrializing ArF photoresist (including dry and immersion) that can reach the integrated circuit process node of 90nm-14nm. In 2017 and 2018, the company was officially approved by the National 02 Special Project "Key Technology Research and Development Project for High-Resolution Photoresist and Advanced Packaging Photoresist Products" and the "Development and Industrialization Project of ArF Photoresist Products" respectively. To this end, the company has established an independent R&D team with high-end photoresist professionals as the core, built an R&D center of approximately 1,500 square meters and a 100-level photoresist pilot production line, and developed a variety of resins, photosensitizers, and monomers. , innovated and continuously optimized the purification process, and developed the formula of 193nm photoresist. The product development progress and results have been recognized by industry experts.
ArF The photoresist industrialization project is progressing smoothly, and the product has once again passed customer certification. company has currently completed the construction of 2 photoresist production lines, and its main advanced lithography equipment, such as ASML immersion lithography machine, has been installed and put into use.The ArF photoresist product independently developed by Ningbo Nanda Optoelectronics, a holding subsidiary, passed certification on the 50nm flash memory platform of a memory chip manufacturing company in December 2020. It has recently obtained certification on the 55nm technology node product of a logic chip manufacturing company. Breakthrough, becoming the first domestic ArF photoresist product in China that has been verified by downstream customers.
In the long-term development process, the company has formed a relatively complete R&D and design system. By increasing scientific research efforts year by year, its technical strength has been continuously enhanced. In 2020, the company’s total R&D investment was 232 million yuan, accounting for 38.98% of operating income. R&D investment increased by 247.54% year-on-year, mainly due to increased investment in the "Development and Industrialization of ArF Photoresist Products" project. At the same time, the number of R&D personnel in the company has increased year by year. As of the end of 2020, the company had 136 R&D personnel, accounting for about 19% of the company's total headcount. The increase in scientific research has continuously enhanced the company's technical strength and independent innovation capabilities. As of the end of 2020, the company and its major subsidiaries had independently developed a total of 79 patents, including 21 invention patents and 58 utility model patents.
The company plans to raise 150 million yuan through private placement in 2021 for ArF photoresist technology development and industrialization projects. The project plans to reach an annual production scale of 25 tons of 193nm (ArF dry and immersion) photoresist products by the end of 2021, and the product performance will meet the requirements of 90nm-14nm integrated circuit manufacturing. At the same time, it plans to establish the country’s first professional testing and evaluation platform for ArF photoresist product development to meet the needs of advanced photoresist product and technology development. The company hopes to achieve complete localization of high-end photoresist production and zero breakthrough in mass production through this private investment project, and enhance my country's independent level in the field of high-end photoresist.
5. Investment Analysis
With the development of my country's integrated circuit industry, the demand for photoresist is steadily expanding. The domestic photoresist market is still monopolized by Japanese companies, especially in the field of high-end photoresist. The localization rate is only 1%, and photoresist production and manufacturing are facing a "stuck neck problem." However, under the influence of factors such as the wave of fab expansion, Shin-Etsu's supply interruption and other factors, as well as the continued increase in investment by large funds, the trend of photoresist localization is in full swing, and Chinese photoresist manufacturers have also ushered in excellent development. Period of opportunity. At present, domestic manufacturers have begun to emerge in the field of high-end photoresists such as KrF and ArF, achieving breakthroughs from zero to one. We are optimistic about the long-term growth space of domestic photoresist. It is recommended to pay attention to leading domestic photoresist companies Jingrui Electric Materials, Tongcheng New Materials, Shanghai Xinyang, Chinachem Technology, Nanda Optoelectronics, etc.
6. Risk factors
(1) Customer verification is not as good as expected.
(2) Downstream demand is less than expected.
(This article is for reference only and does not represent any investment advice on our part. If you need to use relevant information, please refer to the original text of the report.)
Selected report source: [Future Think Tank official website]. "Link"
