card our chip, but we cut off the raw materials. Previously, TSMC planned to invest 100 billion yuan to build a factory, and it is estimated that it will be ruined.
Since 2020, "anti-globalization" is becoming the most troublesome problem for multinational companies, even for technology giants like TSMC. Because the previously customized chemical rinser has not been delivered for a long time, TSMC sent people to Tokyo Electronics, Japan and Scot Semiconductor in Japan to urge orders, but the reply from TSMC was not a device, but an apology. Because the raw materials for special plastics used by these two Japanese companies to manufacture valves and pipes for chemical flushing machines were also out of stock.
This special plastic is made of high-purity fluorine-containing polymer, and this technology has been monopolized by a few giant companies in the United States, Japan and other countries. However, the main raw material for the production of high-purity fluorine polymers is fluorite . 60% of the global fluorite production is controlled by my country and exports are restricted.
Anti-globalization is not a good thing for anyone.
1. Chip, everyone is short of
After 2020, home isolation has caused the demand for home electronic products to soar, not only clearing the inventory of electronic dealers, but also creating a "chip shortage" that lasted for nearly three years. With the turbulent global situation, the already fragile chip industry chain has been covered with a layer of haze. Nowadays, every superpower hopes to achieve 100% independent chips, but it is difficult to implement them.
Many people believe that what my country currently lacks is high-end chip manufacturing technology, such as Dutch ASML's extremely deep ultraviolet lithography machine -EUV. But in fact, chip production is complicated and it is not just the hardware that is stuck. The chip industry chain mainly includes three major links: design, manufacturing and packaging and testing. First of all, we have a hard time in the chip design process.
1, chip design
When designing chips, electronic automation software EDA is a necessary software for chip circuit design, performance analysis and other links. Today, EDA software has been monopolized by three American companies, Synopsy Technology , Kengteng Electronics and Mingdao International, and the three companies account for more than 60% of the global market.
Huawei subsidiary - HiSilicon originally ranks first in the world's chip design companies, but due to excessive reliance on EDA, even though it purchased the permanent authorization of the EDA software after 2020, the subsequent updates, vulnerability patches and other services of the software will no longer be enjoyed.
In addition to the chip design link, there are more things that are easy to get bored in the chip manufacturing link. The chip carrier - wafer is one of them.
2, chip manufacturing
chip manufacturing, it is necessary to first extract silica with a purity of 98% from the sand, that is, industrial silicon , and then the industrial silicon is continued to purify high-purity silicon at the chip level, with a silicon content of up to 99.99%. Then put it in high temperature conditions and "shape" it and turn it into a single crystal silicon ingot.
single crystal silicon ingot becomes a silicon wafer, that is, a wafer, through cutting, grinding, polishing and cleaning. Then, a process of operation is carried out on the wafer, including numerals, cleaning, oxidation and diffusion, chemical vapor deposition, sputtering, photolithography, etching, photoresist removal and WAT testing, and multiple chips are formed on a whole wafer and cut into square shapes. At this point, the manufacturing process of a single chip is over.
Regularly speaking, the chip manufacturing process is an advantageous link for foundry manufacturers such as TSMC, but now I am also in trouble. In 2021, TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou plans to invest US$100 billion in the next three years to build a factory. With the shortage of various "small parts" such as valves and pipelines in the industrial chain, it is estimated that this factory construction plan will be slow.
3, packaging and testing
In the chip design and manufacturing process, due to the high technical content and special requirements for raw materials and equipment, there are many small parts that have botched necks. But it is not about the packaging and testing process, but my country can achieve 100% autonomy.After the
chip is manufactured, it needs to be sent to the packaging and testing factory. It can be installed on the equipment. It can only be successfully released after cutting, wiring, testing and aging test and other testing steps. For a long time, due to the technical barriers and added value in the packaging test, there are fewer parts that have botched the neck.
However, similar to the electrostatic suction cup that is fixed to a fixed wafer, it needs to be coated with a 0.01 micron coating to meet extremely high standards such as high temperature resistance, wear resistance, and high strength. Therefore, we cannot underestimate this kind of technically difficult link.
However, although domestic chip manufacturers started late, the current national policy tilt is becoming increasingly fierce.
2. The rise of domestic chips
First, chip design
chip design, HiSilicon and Unigroup Zhanrui have successively ranked among the top 10 "Fabless" suppliers in the world.
Although there is still a gap between us and major manufacturers in terms of EDA software technology, the emergence of a number of companies such as Huada Jiutian, Xinhe Technology, and Guangliwei has broken the technological blockade of the three major American software giants in the EDA field.
Second, chip manufacturing
At present, due to the interruption of supply of lithography machines such as DUV and EUV, China's market share in the global chip manufacturing field is only about 4%. However, Shanghai previously announced that 14nm chips will be mass-produced in 2023, so we will be just around the corner.
And in addition to lithography machines, my country's etching machine has reached the process level of 5nm, and photoresist has also reached the standard for producing 7nm chips. In 2021, the development of the first 12-inch ultra-precision wafer thinning machine of Tsinghua University was successfully developed, which helped the production of domestic 12-inch wafers.
Third, packaging and testing
Packaging and testing technology is an advantageous link in my country. Packaging and testing companies such as Changdian Technology , Huatian Technology , Tongfu Microelectronics have entered the top 20 in the world, and this advantage is further expanded.
3. Conclusion
Chip is a special industry, and manufacturing chips requires mutual coordination among industries around the world.
Although all countries are striving to achieve 100% autonomy of chips from design, manufacturing to packaging, no country can accommodate the entire industrial chain, whether it is upstream raw materials, midstream high-end consumables, or downstream market demand.
There will be no winner in the process of anti-globalization.
