① As the process becomes more difficult, chip manufacturers are improving performance through more complex designs; ② This also means that the chemical and materials sector will face more stringent technical requirements, which in turn is an opportunity for related listed companies; ③ What is very cruel is that in such a highly capital-intensive industry, the advantages of leaders will also be more difficult to shake.
Financial Services Association, December 28 (Editor Shi Zhengcheng) At the end of 2023, Dutch lithography leader Asmack delivered the first high-aperture extreme ultraviolet lithography machine, which means that the global semiconductor industry has taken a critical step towards 2nm.
(Source: X)
As Intel vows to enter mass production of the 2nm process in 2024, the investment market is also paying close attention to opportunities in the semiconductor industry. Morgan Stanley also included Intel and China Micro in the “Top 24 Global Bullish Stocks List” in the latest 2024 themed investment report.
However, just as the market focused on many lithography machine manufacturers and chip manufacturers, many materials and chemical manufacturers began to pop out to remind investors that in the 2nm era, our role will be even more important!
How do you say this?
In a newly announced interview, James O'Neill, chief technology officer of the US stock listed company Entegris (Entegris), mentioned that in the current process of achieving advanced production processes, it is no longer machines that make chips, but advanced materials and cleaning solutions that occupy the center of the stage.
O'Neill said, “Thirty years ago, everything had to do with lithographers making transistors smaller (improving performance). Today, it would be a solid proposition to claim that material innovation is the main driving force for improving performance.”
Kai Beckmann, CEO of the electronics business of Merck Group (Merck) in Germany, endorsed this view, although not so straightforward. Beckmann said that the electronics industry is now shifting from the era of using tools to advance technology in the past 20 years to the next decade of the so-called “material age.”
For 2nm chips, which are expected to be mass-produced in 2025, the chip design itself is becoming more complicated. When humans broke through the 22nm node, traditional planar transistors began to be replaced by fin-fin structures (FinFETs), and at the 3nm node, Gate-All-Around FET (Gate-All-Around FET) became the industry's preferred solution. As can also be seen from the diagram, the transistors in the chip are now stacked in a more complicated way.
(Schematic diagram of the three structures, source: Samsung)
The memory chip is easier to explain. Manufacturers such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are competing in the 3D NAND field—more than anyone else. Currently, the number of chip layers produced by these three companies can be stacked to 230 layers, and they are working hard to break through 300 layers within 1 to 2 years. The more layers are stacked, the greater the storage capacity. At the same time, the industry is also actively exploring the development of 3D flash memory chips.
Further development in these two fields requires not only more complex lithographs, but also new cutting-edge materials.
O'Neill likened the chemicals used in 3D transistors to “sitting in a helicopter painting New York City” — requiring the ability to control the properties of materials sprayed on the top, sides, and level streets of a building, and the ability to clean up the street when finished. For new transistor structures such as GAA, new innovative materials must also be developed to ensure uniform coverage of the top, bottom, and sides. Currently, the materials industry is looking for ways to achieve this on an atomic scale.
Another reason chemicals are becoming more important is based on production yield, which is critical to the commercial competitiveness of chip companies. O'Neill said high-purity chemicals are critical to ensuring flawless production and minimising defects.
Beckmann also gave another example: In the current chip manufacturing process, copper is widely used as a conductive layer, but in order to make smaller and more advanced chips, the industry is exploring new materials such as molybdenum.
Of course, the words innovation usually have nothing to do with cheapness. According to current industry expectations, a single 2nm wafer could cost as much as $30,000, which is 50% higher than the current most advanced iPhone 15 Pro processor (3nm). Similar to the current AI industry, getting stronger is likely to still be the tone of this industry.
Bertrand Loy, CEO of Intel, concluded that this is a highly capital-intensive industry. He expects the same trend to continue—larger companies will grow stronger and are willing to continue investing as this will be a source of competitive advantage for them.