TSMC: Advanced processes require more local supply of raw materials

On September 10, the China Semiconductor Materials Innovation and Development Conference was officially held in Beilun, Ningbo. Chen Yingjie, deputy director of the Microlithography Engineering Department of TSMC (Nanjing) Co., Ltd., said that the demand for local supply of raw materials for advanced processes is becoming increasingly higher, and the opportunity for mainland semiconductor materials has arrived.

Chen Yingjie pointed out that TSMC will not stop pursuing advanced processes. It has more than 5,000 R&D engineers and invested more than US$2.8 billion in new product R&D last year.

Chen Yingjie said that the source of the pursuit of excellent quality is raw materials. If metal ions in semiconductor materials aggregate with other polymers during the semiconductor manufacturing process, they will become impurities. In this way, process defects will increase, so the era of impurities of one trillionth of ppt has arrived.

From 8 inches to 12 inches, the number of semiconductor raw materials increased from more than 200 to more than 300, but the process specifications were greatly reduced. Chen Yingjie emphasized that the demand for local supply will become higher and higher, not just because of price.

Chen Yingjie said that TSMC has extended its quality control to the supplier side and found that if key raw materials can be produced nearby, less time will be spent on transportation and storage, and the polymerization effect will be well controlled. The time from production to use of materials such as mixed acid and photoresist is very short, and local supply is the best choice in terms of cost and other aspects.

Finally, Chen Yingjie called for more resources to be invested in the research and development of high-specification wafer manufacturing materials in the future to support high-end integrated circuit manufacturing.