Source: Shanghai Microelectronics, official website and mask aligner. Mask aligner is the core equipment in the semiconductor chip manufacturing industry and an important link in the chip manufacturing process. It can be said that mask aligner directly determines the quality of the chip. At the same time, it also represents the manufacturing level of high-end semiconductor equipment and supports the development of integrated circuit industry. However, at present, ASML in the Netherlands monopolizes the market share of high-end mask aligner, while Nikon and Canon in Japan compete for the low-end market at the middle end. However, Shanghai Microelectronics only has a low-end mask aligner market. As for the grades of 28nm, 14nm and 7nm, the distance is still far.
Why is the mask aligner difficult? The technology involved in mask aligner is very complicated and needs the cooperation of many top enterprises. ASML of the Netherlands did not do it himself, but cooperated with many chip giants such as Intel, TSMC, Samsung and HiSilicon. There are various blocking problems in domestic manufacturing of high-end mask aligner. On the one hand, the reason is that we can't independently produce these high-end parts, which is also the reason why 90mm in mask aligner has been stagnant for a long time. Secondly, the most difficult thing in mask aligner is the ultraviolet laser light source. It needs to obtain a light source with stable frequency and uniform energy through beam corrector, energy controller, beam shape setting and shutter. There is also a lens module, which is an extremely complicated system engineering, and it is necessary to ensure that the light passes through the objective lens without deformation. These undoubtedly bring great resistance to production and manufacturing. In addition, the alignment system of the mask aligner needs to have nearly perfect precision mechanical technology. It involves many advanced technologies, such as system integration, precision optics, precision motion, precision material transmission, and high-precision micro-environment control.
At present, relevant domestic institutions are also focusing on technological breakthroughs in mask aligner. For example, Institute of Optoelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a lithography resolution of 22nm, and combined with double exposure technology, 10nm chips can be manufactured. However, it needs to be clear that mask aligner needs tens of thousands of high-precision parts to achieve mass production, and the domestic industrial chain has not yet reached. Indeed, there is a big gap between chip manufacturing and some developed countries, mainly due to the restrictions of mask aligner. It is difficult to independently produce high-end components, ultraviolet light and precision machinery ... Even the most advanced Shanghai microelectronics in China still has a long way to go.