The battle for EUV lithography machines escalates!
Latest update time：2021-07-08
Reads：
EUV lithography machines have become the mainstay of chip manufacturing. TSMC, Samsung and other wafer factories have been pursuing advanced processes such as 5nm and 3nm in recent years. They are already major purchasers of EUV lithography machines. In addition, these major wafer factories are expanding production and building factories, which undoubtedly increases the demand for EUV lithography machines. In addition to wafer factories and other logic manufacturers, storage manufacturers are also gradually reaching the stage of adopting lithography machines, and have even signed large multi-year contracts with ASML. The battle for EUV lithography machines is gradually heating up.
Fabs embrace EUV lithography, Intel doubles down on attention
Multiple studies have shown that of the three major fabs, Intel is the one that has purchased relatively few EUV tools to date and has not yet begun purchasing these extremely expensive, very long delivery time, and supply-constrained systems. According to a report on ASML by Mizuho Securities Asia Limited, which predicts purchases by EUV customers TSMC, Samsung, and Intel, as shown in the figure below, Intel is relatively lagging behind, which is related to its backwardness in process nodes. ASML announced that it shipped 31 EUV tools in 2020. While this indicates that EUV has now reached maturity, it is still lower than its 35 shipment plan. However, part of the reason for the failure to meet the target is Intel's well-documented 7nm delay: this reduced ASML's shipments by four units.
Source: Mizuho Securities Equity Research Estimates
It is understood that only those fabs at 7nm or below really need EUV-based lithography machines. Intel announced in March that it will use its 7nm process to manufacture processors for client PCs and high-end servers (codenamed Meteor Lake and Granite Rapids) starting in 2023. Intel will spend $20 billion to build two leading-edge manufacturing plants in Arizona, which will be "EUV-capable", meaning they will be able to produce chips at 7nm and below. By introducing EUV lithography technology while outsourcing manufacturing to TSMC to buy time, this seems to be an attempt to rebuild the company's internal development and manufacturing system.
At a recent JPMorgan Chase meeting, CEO Kissinger said that Intel will fully embrace EUV lithography. Everyone can see that Intel has made major improvements to the EUV process for multiple generations, and also major improvements at the transistor level. This is also because after Intel reaches 7nm, more wafers (layers in the chip) will be exposed using EUV. Currently, only a dozen of the most critical layers are exposed using EUV, which is what Intel means by "fully embracing EUV."
TSMC and Samsung have been pursuing advanced technology and have deployed more EUV lithography machines than Intel. Moreover, both TSMC and Samsung will build factories in the United States, and these factories also need EUV lithography machines.
According to wccftech, TSMC's clean room supplier Jiangxi Han Tang System Integration Co., Ltd. provided some initial details about the progress of TSMC's US chip factory equipment in a statement issued in April. The factory will be built in Arizona, also the home of Intel. Han Tang Chairman Mr. Chen Chaoshui outlined that the contract for the factory will be completed in July and equipment installation will begin in September next year.
TSMC shared a rendering of its Arizona factory at a technology seminar last month. Image: TSMC
Fanuan System Technology, TSMC's partner in producing components for ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines in the Netherlands, will also send engineers to Arizona, and revenue from the plant is expected to start in the third quarter of next year. It is conceivable that this factory will also purchase EUV lithography machines. According to details shared by TSMC at its technical seminar last month, the fab owns half of all these machines in the world and was responsible for 65% of all EUV-based chip shipments last year.
In May, according to Korean media reports, Samsung Electronics has decided to build an EUV semiconductor wafer plant in Austin, Texas. This will be the first time that the company has an EUV production line in a country other than South Korea. The company made this decision to meet the growing demand for smaller chips and President Biden's plan to restructure the country's semiconductor supply chain. The company plans to break ground in the third quarter of this year and start operations in 2024. It is reported that the plant will use a 5nm process. This process is the most advanced process commercialized by Samsung Electronics to date.
In addition, Samsung Electronics' Lee Jae-yong visited ASML last October, apparently to obtain EUV lithography machines. And just in May this year, ASML signed an agreement with the central and local governments of South Korea to invest 240 billion won (US$211 million) to establish an EUV industrial cluster in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province by 2025.
As Intel begins to fully embrace EUV lithography machines, the competition for EUV lithography machines will become more intense. Although ASML is expanding production, they have only shipped more than 100 EUV machines so far, which is another potential bottleneck.
Storage manufacturers have also entered the EUV lithography era
In the past, logic manufacturers have always been at the forefront of technology and are also the largest users of EUV lithography machines. However, storage manufacturers are now also using EUV lithography machines.
Micron, which had previously stated that it would not adopt EUV lithography, could not resist the arrival of the EUV lithography era. According to Korean media reports recently, Micron plans to implement extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography in its manufacturing plants by 2024, deploying EUV in a limited number of layers at the 1γ (Gamma) node, and then expanding it to the 1δ (Delta) node with a greater layer adoption rate. It aims to maintain the existence of Moore's Law by allowing the manufacture of smaller chip features.
"We have always said that we would monitor the progress of EUV. We are actually involved in EUV evaluation. We have used EUV tools in the past. So we have always said that when we see the EUV platform and the ecosystem become more mature, we will intercept EUV in our roadmap. Micron has ordered multiple EUV tools from ASML," Mehrotra confirmed. Micron has increased its capital expenditures for FY21 to just over $9.5 billion, which includes these EUV advances.
On February 1, 2021, SK Hynix completed its first EUV wafer fab for DRAM. It started construction two years ago. The wafer fab located in Icheon Park, Gyeonggi Province is called M16 and is the company's largest wafer fab. SK Hynix introduced EUV lithography equipment for the first time for M16. SK Hynix plans to use cutting-edge equipment to produce fourth-generation 10nm DRAM products, namely 1a-nm DRAM, from the second half of this year.
In addition, SK Hynix has signed a five-year contract with ASML worth 4.75 trillion won (4.3 billion U.S. dollars) to purchase extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems. The most advanced EUV exposure equipment is estimated to cost about 20 billion yen per unit. The contract amount is for the purchase of more than 20 units (the payment amount includes installation costs, etc.).
At the beginning of last year, Samsung Electronics announced the world's first development of ArF-i-based D1z DRAM and D1z DRAM using its EUVL lithography (EUVL), respectively. In February of this year, Samsung Electronics' 1z-nm process DRAM based on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology has completed mass production. Semiconductor analysis agency TechInsights disassembled Samsung's 1z-nm process DRAM using EUV lithography and ArF-i lithography technology. It believes that the technology has improved Samsung's production efficiency and reduced the core size of DRAM. DRAM cell size and D/R scaling have become increasingly difficult recently, but Samsung has reduced the D/R of D1z to 15.7 nm, which is 8.2% smaller than D1y. It is understood that Samsung will continue to add EUV steps to the next generation of DRAM.
Samsung DRAM cell size trend, D3x to D1z (Source: TechInsights)
Samsung DRAM unit D/R trend, D3x to D1z (Source: TechInsights)
So far, the three storage giants Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have all increased their investments in EUV lithography machines. The demand for EUV lithography machines continues to increase, while ASML's production capacity is limited. It is expected that companies will compete to purchase equipment.
The long-awaited next-generation EUV lithography machine
For many years, chipmakers have used optical-based 193nm wavelength lithography scanners to pattern the most advanced features in chips. Through multiple patterning, chipmakers have extended 193nm lithography technology to 10/7nm. But at 5nm, current lithography technology has lost momentum. So EUV lithography machines were pushed into history, which increased the NA (breaking index) from about 1.0 to about 1.35 nanometers.
ASML's EUV lithography machines are still the first generation, with a wavelength of about 13.5nm and a NA numerical aperture of 0.33. A series of models have been developed. However, the NA index of the first generation of EUV lithography machines is too low and the resolution is not enough. Therefore, with the competition among the first generation of EUV lithography machines, the next generation of lithography machines is also being called for.
According to ASML's plan, the second-generation EUV lithography machine will be the NXE:5000 series, and the NA of its objective lens will be increased to 0.55, further improving the lithography accuracy. If the semiconductor process wants to break through the 1nm process, it must rely on the next generation of lithography machines. However, this will also be more expensive, costing more than an airplane, and is expected to cost more than $300 million.
However, the evolution of the next generation of high-NA EUV is not so easy. The transition of future process nodes to high numerical aperture ("high NA") lithography requires not only huge engineering innovations from system suppliers (such as ASML), but also advanced development of suitable photoresist materials. An often underestimated aspect of the evolution of EUV lithography is the corresponding development work of the corresponding photoresist materials. The search for suitable photoresists must be carried out in parallel with system development. For detailed technical details, please see
"
Are you ready for the next generation of EUV lithography?
"
High-NA EUV lithography systems will start at the N2 and N2+ technology nodes, and ASML expects to complete the verification of the first High-NA EUV lithography system in 2022 and plans to deliver it to customers in 2023. ASML announced that it now expects High-NA equipment to enter commercial mass production (by its customers) in 2025 or 2026. Customers such as Samsung, TSMC and Intel have also been calling for the development of a High-NA ecosystem to avoid delays.
Pain knot:
Although EUV will also be used in DRAM (especially 1a technology node and below), advanced logic processes are still the main demand side. However, in the technology cold war, China cannot get these EUV lithography machines. The logic process has been stuck at the 10nm level. As storage begins to use EUV lithography machines, if China cannot solve the problem of lithography machines, then DRAM will also be stuck.
Will Hunt, a research analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University, said
it would take at least 10 years for China to manufacture similar machines independently
. EUV lithography machines have actually become a bottleneck in the chip supply chain for China. Its development and production involve three major countries. It requires the use of German reflectors and hardware developed in San Diego, which generates light by spraying tin droplets with lasers, while important chemicals and components come from Japan. This also shows the degree of globalization of the supply chain, which is a reality that any country that wants to make significant progress in the semiconductor field alone needs to face.
*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.
Today is the 2729th content shared by "Semiconductor Industry Observer" for you, welcome to follow.
Recommended Reading
Billions of dollars invested in 12-inch production lines, TI once again launched a revolution in analog chips
★ Is the GAA transistor era about to begin?
★ MLPerf benchmark: Nvidia leads, China's power is rising
Semiconductor Industry Observation
" The first vertical media in semiconductor industry "
Real-time professional original depth
Scan the QR code , reply to the keywords below, and read more
Wafers｜ICs｜Equipment ｜Automotive Chips｜Storage｜MLCC｜NVIDIA｜Analog Chips
Reply
Submit your article
and read "How to become a member of "Semiconductor Industry Observer""
Reply Search and you can easily find other articles that interest you!
京公网安备 11010802033920号