Chapter 180 [The difficulty of semiconductors is not only a lithography machine]
Chapter 180 [The problem of semiconductors is not just a photolithography machine]
In the current global competitive landscape of EDA software, the top echelon has formed a three-legged structure consisting of Synopsys Technology, Jiangteng Electronics, and Siemens.
After more than 20 years of development, these manufacturers have achieved full process coverage of chip design and manufacturing, and in some subdivisions, these three manufacturers each have their own advantages, or unique skills.
In the EDA software industry, if you want to occupy this industry and become a leading enterprise in the industry, you need not only a breakthrough in a single technical point, but also coverage of the entire process.
EDA software can be divided into analog circuits, digital circuits, and applications in wafer packaging and testing and the entire system.
What is certain at present is that domestic investment in EDA software can almost be described as "neglected". The scale of R&D investment annually may not even be 100 million nationwide.
If you say what people say, no one will take it seriously.
Fang Hong opened a computer search engine and searched. Currently, there are only a handful of domestic companies involved in the EDA software business.
After searching for a long time, Fang Hong found just a few companies.
Core Vision, established in 2002, focuses on IC analysis and design, with a small amount of EDA business; Guangli Micro, established in 2003, is a provider of EDA software and wafer-level electrical testing equipment; Silxin, established in 2004, produces digital circuit chips
Prototype verification; Lichuang Software, established in 2006, specializes in PCB design software.
There is also Huada Jiutian, which was established in June this year. The company produces analog circuits, full-process EDA for flat panel display circuits, digital circuit EDA, wafer manufacturing EDA tools, etc.
There are currently only a few EDA-related manufacturers in China, and one of them, Huada Jiutian, has yet to be seen, and we will have to wait a month before the company is established.
It is worth mentioning that Fang Hong is so keen on the semiconductor industry. In addition to the future prospects of this industry, another more important factor is that this high-end manufacturing industry has indispensable cutting-edge technology and the physical industry.
Bring huge employment.
To put it more down-to-earth, industrial capital is related to the livelihood of countless people and the stability of the economy, especially high-end industries. When the time comes, not just anyone who wants to touch Qunxing Capital will be able to do so. If it is just pure financial capital, it will indeed make money quickly, but more importantly
Like a fat sheep or a toothless tiger.
After Fang Hong completed the documentation of the EDA software, he created a new subcategory and started editing it—semiconductor equipment.
If the core of semiconductor materials is purity, then the core of semiconductor equipment lies in its accuracy and yield.
Equipment yield defects will produce huge accumulation and amplification in hundreds or thousands of production process steps. When the single-step yield is 90%, the final yield is 0%; when the single-step yield is 99%, the final yield is
0.7%; single-step yield rate is 99.9%, final yield rate is 60.6%; single-step yield rate is 99.99%, final yield rate is 95.1%, single-step yield rate is 99.999%, final yield rate is 99.5%.
It can be seen that only when the single-step yield reaches 5 n, the final yield can reach the level of 99.5%, which is also the difficulty of semiconductor equipment.
In the manufacturing process of semiconductor equipment, it can be divided into front-end wafer equipment manufacturing, packaging equipment and testing equipment.
The most critical thing is the front-end process equipment.
This is also the highest proportion of capital expenditure. After excluding the delivery room and acceptance inspection, the investment in front-end process equipment accounts for about 70% to 80% of the total. If the process accuracy is higher, this proportion will be higher. For example, when
When reaching within 16 nanometers, the ratio will reach 85%, and below 7 nanometers, it will be even higher.
The process flow of front-end equipment is specifically divided into: oxidation diffusion, photolithography, etching, ion implantation, thin film deposition, polishing, wafer inspection and other links.
In the current competitive landscape of global semiconductor equipment, leading companies in all major sectors are monopolized by foreign oligopoly companies, and domestic companies are basically unable to reach the first echelon. This is a very real problem.
There are three major barriers to semiconductor equipment.
The first is the technical barrier. The first one is that semiconductor equipment is a complex system composed of thousands of parts. These parts must be organically combined into one, and the desired precision can be achieved at the nanometer level.
.
The second barrier is to ensure ultra-high yields based on these nanoscale operations. You must know that even if the yield is 90%, the yield of the final product is zero.
The third barrier is to ensure continuous and stable production on the basis of ensuring the accuracy and yield of the equipment. This has also led to the natural formation of an oligopoly in the industry.
From the perspective of customer verification, because of the complexity of the semiconductor equipment itself and the production line, the yield and stability of a single equipment will have a cumulative effect on the entire system, resulting in potentially huge losses. This is also
This is why wafer manufacturing plants have extremely strict requirements for upstream equipment verification and acceptance.
Once the manufacturer's requirements are met, it is difficult to replace other manufacturers' equipment. The reason is that changing equipment manufacturers will face huge risks and time costs for acceptance. This has resulted in a global oligopoly pattern of semiconductor equipment. Manufacturers follow this company.
Once a company reaches a cooperation, there is a high probability that it will continue to work together, and it will not change partners easily unless absolutely necessary.
In the semiconductor front-end process manufacturing equipment, Fang Hong also knows very clearly what proportion of the total capital expenditure each major equipment accounts for. After all, he has been deeply involved in this industry in his previous life.
Etching equipment accounts for 22%, thin film deposition equipment accounts for 22%, and photolithography machines account for 20%.
These three major semiconductor equipment account for more than 60% of the total investment.
Then there are testing equipment accounting for 11%, cleaning equipment accounting for 5%, glue coating and developing equipment accounting for 4%, polishing equipment accounting for 3%, heat treatment equipment accounting for 2%, ion implanter accounting for 2%, glue removal equipment accounting for 1%, and others
Equipment adds up to the remaining 8%.
Among the many semiconductor equipments, Fang Hong mainly values the ten key equipments, namely: photolithography equipment, etching equipment, thin film deposition equipment, testing equipment, cleaning equipment, coating and development equipment, polishing equipment, heat treatment equipment.
Ion implanter equipment, glue removal equipment.
Star Capital must conquer these ten major equipments and control them to achieve complete autonomy.
When the chip was stuck by foreigners and aroused public opinion and heated discussions, the general public outside the industry focused almost all their attention on the lithography machine. They felt that as long as the lithography machine technology was conquered, the semiconductor industry would be
This mountain can be climbed over.
In fact, if we want to achieve true domestic autonomy without being stuck by others, the difficulty of semiconductors does not end with a photolithography machine?
From materials to equipment, if you get stuck in any link, you won't be able to play with it, and the final chip won't be produced. This is the particularity and harshness of the semiconductor industry.
It is necessary to fully open up everything from materials to equipment in order to truly achieve autonomy without being stuck. Especially in the context of future global competition and technological war, opponents will use all means to suppress and blockade.
Fang Hong has finished editing the material documents of the top ten semiconductor equipment. The core framework of the entire semiconductor investment has been established, and the corresponding capital expenditures are clearly listed in the file.
Whether it is the fields mentioned in the document such as semiconductor materials, EDA software or semiconductor equipment, Stellar Capital must be deeply involved. Only in this way can we truly achieve autonomy and not be stuck by others.
Where do the funds come from?
Of course, it is harvested from the stock market and other capital markets. It is mainly to harvest profits from the external market and nourish the development of the semiconductor industry.
Where do talents come from?
Compared with capital, talent is the most critical, but it is not unsolvable for Fang Hong. On the one hand, it is naturally necessary to recruit existing semiconductor talents on a large scale, and another big killer is Fang Hong's use of his own reputation system.
The prop card creates cutting-edge talents to overcome this series of technical barriers.