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on september 9, the wechat official account of gongxin micro-news published an article disclosing the "guidelines for the promotion and application of the first major technical equipment (2024 edition)". among them, in the column of electronic special equipment,krypton fluoride lithography machine and argon fluoride lithography machine are among themthe data shows thatargon fluoride lithography machine has a resolution of less than 65 nanometers and an overlay accuracy of less than 8 nanometers。

according to a research report by dongxing securities, lithography machines can be divided into direct-write lithography machines and mask lithography machines. the mainstream markets include five categories: i-iine (mercury wire), krf (krypton fluoride), arf (argon fluoride), arfi (immersion argon fluoride), and euv (extreme ultraviolet).

the argon fluoride lithography machine selected for the promotion catalog this time should be a dry arf lithography machine. in terms of specific indicators, it is similar to asml's twinscan nxt: 1470 and twinscan xt: 1460k.

according to the "management measures for inspection and assessment of china's first major technological equipment (trial)" jointly issued by the state administration for market regulation and five other departments in april this year, major technical equipment is the country's most important weapon and is related to the overall national strength and national security.china's first major technological equipment refers to equipment products that have achieved major technological breakthroughs in china, have intellectual property rights, and have not yet achieved significant market performance., including complete equipment, core systems and key components.

according to the gongxin micro-blog,this guidance catalogue is to promote the innovation, development and application of the first major technological equipment, and strengthen the coordination of national support policies such as industry, finance, finance, and science and technology.。

specifically, the wafer diameter of the krypton fluoride lithography machine is 300mm (12 inches); the illumination wavelength is 248mm; the resolution is ≤110nm; and the overlay is ≤25nm.

in comparison, asml's krypton fluoride lithography machines include twinscan nxt:870, twinscan xt:860n and twinscan xt:860m. the wavelength of these three models is 248mm and the resolution is ≤110nm.

the more advanced argon fluoride lithography machine in the guidance catalog has an illumination wavelength of 193mm.resolution ≤65nm; overlay ≤8nm。

this data is closest to asml's twinscan xt:1460k. this model has an illumination wavelength of 193nm and a resolution of ≤65nm. in addition, the system can achieve a production resolution as low as 57nm under polarized illumination.

in comparison, the asml immersion lithography machine twinscan nxt 1980fi has a resolution of ≤38nm. according to a research report by minsheng securities, this model can achieve an overlay accuracy (mmo) of 2.5nm.

according to donghai securities, citing data from asml's official website, the average prices of various types of lithography machines in 2023 will be euv (173.86 million euros), arfi (71.96 million euros), arfdry (27.42 million euros), krf (11.92 million euros), and i-iine (3.99 million euros).

donghai securities believes thatat present, the localization rate of lithography machines is only 2.5%, and the gap between the overall machine technology and overseas is largein the short term of 5 to 10 years, on the one hand, it is critical to focus on the research and development and mass production of 90nm and 28nm lithography machines, and on the other hand, focus on the development of domestic semiconductor components.

donghai securities said that according to information from the china international bidding network, in the bidding of semiconductor equipment, the localization rate of core equipment such as etching and deposition has been greatly improved. the core is that related chinese companies have gradually caught up with foreign companies in terms of technology; but as a core equipment, lithography machinesthe localization rate is less than 3%the core reason is that there is a big gap between the supply of components and the whole machine technology and overseas.

on september 18, among the oriental fortune concept sectors, the lithography machine (glue) sector ranked high, with an overall increase of 2.47%. among them, tongfei co., ltd. and wavelength optoelectronics both achieved a "20 cm" daily limit; xinlai materials rose 12.40%. in addition, zhangjiang hi-tech, haili co., ltd., and kaimet gas also hit the daily limit.

on september 19, the concept of lithography machines continued to be active, with kemet gas and haili group both hitting their daily limit, zhangjiang hi-tech park rising by more than 6%, and wavelength optoelectronics, jinghua laser, and soochow dawei following suit.

zhangjiang hi-tech has attracted attention mainly because it has invested in shanghai microelectronics. on september 10, zhangjiang hi-tech said on the investor communication platform that the company invested 223 million yuan in shanghai microelectronics through its subsidiary shanghai zhangjiang haocheng venture capital co., ltd., holding 10.779% of the equity of shanghai microelectronics, and did not increase or reduce its holdings subsequently.

dongxing securities said that among domestic companies, shanghai micro electronics is currently china's first and only lithography machine giant, with shipments accounting for more than 80% of the domestic market share. its products mainly involve arf, krf and i-line fields, and it has the ability to manufacture chips of 90nm and below.

in terms of lithography machine components, tongfei co., ltd. stated in its 2023 interim report that its liquid constant temperature equipment is mainly used in the field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment for temperature control of key equipment such as lithography machines, etchers, grinding and polishing machines, etc.

however, according to a research report by dongxing securities, the core components of the lithography machine include the light source system, dual workbench, objective lens system, alignment system, exposure system, immersion system, grating system, etc. supporting facilities include photoresist, mask, coating and development, etc.

in terms of light source systems, according to huajin securities, for quasi-laser light sources, keyi hongyuan mainly develops 248nm excimer lasers, dry 193nm excimer lasers, etc.; fujing technology develops kbbf crystals.

according to dongxing securities, wavelength optoelectronics is a major supplier of laser optical components in china. at present, the company has the ability to provide large-aperture optical lenses for lithography machines. the lithography machine parallel light source system successfully developed by the company can be used to support domestic lithography machines.

wavelength optoelectronics also disclosed an investor activity record sheet on september 15, 2023, stating that the company is mainly involved in two areas in the semiconductor field: one is the production field, namely exposure machines and photolithography. the company can provide large-aperture optical lenses for detection, reflection and projection, and can also provide parallel light source systems; the other is the detection field. the company can provide optical elements and components on the detection equipment, and can also customize development and installation subsystems for customers.

in terms of the objective lens system, dongxing securities said that the ultra-precision optical component processing technology of the exposure objective lens of the maolai optical lithography machine has been industrialized.

donghai securities research report shows thatchina will import 225 photolithography machines in 2023, with an import value of us$8.754 billion, the import amount hit a record high, and it is expected that my country's lithography machines will mainly rely on imports in the next 3 to 5 years. an advanced lithography machine has as many as 100,000 parts. overall, the localization rate of my country's semiconductor components is very low. although relevant state-owned enterprises are constantly developing in various fields, there is still a big gap between them and overseas companies. at the same time, it also indicates that domestic component companies have great development opportunities.

disclaimer: the content and data in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. please verify before use. you will be responsible for your own risks if you act accordingly.

reporter|zhu chengxiang

edit|||sun zhicheng liang xiao dubo

proofreading|he xiaotao

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