SiCarrier says its tools can help China make advanced chips

By Che Pan and Brenda Goh

BEIJING (Reuters) - China tin usage domstically developed tools to marque precocious semiconductors, countering U.S. curbs connected Beijing's entree to high-end chipmaking technology, an enforcement astatine a large Chinese supplier said connected Thursday.

Du Lijun, president of spot instrumentality shaper Shenzhen SiCarrier Industry Machines, said China faces export controls connected entree to lithography systems to marque chips, but homemade tools could beryllium employed alternatively to assistance it marque 5-nanometer chips.

"There mightiness beryllium a way wherever we tin usage non-optical technologies, that is, utilizing our process instrumentality to lick immoderate of the lithography issues," Du said connected the sidelines of the yearly Semicon China manufacture just that began connected Wednesday.

Making its debut astatine the fair, SiCarrier presented a raft of etching and deposition process instrumentality and optical metrology and inspection tools astatine a booth that was 1 of the astir crowded astatine the event, which drew astir 1,400 exhibitors this year.

Du cautioned that multi-patterning could airs challenges to yields, arsenic specified techniques tin summation the fig of manufacturing steps by astir 20% for the beforehand to the 5-nm process from 7-nm.

SiCarrier's tools are already utilized by large Chinese foundries specified arsenic the starring Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), said a institution manager, who spoke connected information of anonymity.

SMIC did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected Thursday.

SiCarrier besides collaborates with telecoms elephantine Huawei, Bloomberg News said.

SiCarrier Industry Machines was founded successful 2022 and its genitor SiCarrier Technology, founded successful 2021, is afloat owned by a state-backed concern money successful the confederate tech hub of Shenzhen, China’s firm grounds website Qichacha shows.

It was among 140 Chinese instrumentality firms added to a U.S. commerce commercialized blacklist past December.

Multi-pattering, which replaces optical lithography with assorted etching and deposition steps, is wide seen arsenic a mode to assistance China nutrient precocious 5nm chips arsenic it is denied entree to precocious utmost ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools made by ASML.

SiCarrier received a patent for multi-patterning exertion successful precocious 2023 from China’s intelligence spot regulator.

Its patent uses heavy ultraviolet lithography (DUV) chipmaking machines and the self-aligned quadruple patterning exertion to execute definite method thresholds seen connected 5 nm chips, its filing showed.

That helps debar usage of EUV machines and cuts manufacturing cost, it said.

(Reporting by Che Pan, and Brenda Goh, Casey Hall; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Clarence Fernandez)