At the end of 2023, ASML, the leader of Dutch lithography machines, delivered its first high-aperture extreme ultraviolet lithography machine, which means that the global semiconductor industry has taken a critical step towards 2nm. As Intel vowsThe 2nm process will enter mass production in 2024, and the investment market is also paying close attention to opportunities in the semiconductor industry. In its latest thematic investment report for 2024, Morgan Stanley also included Intel and China Microsystems in the "list of the world's top 24 bullish stocks."


(Source: X)

However, just as the market is focusing on a number of photolithography machine manufacturers and chip manufacturers, many materials and chemical manufacturers have begun to jump out to remind investors:In the 2nm era, our role will be even more important!

How to say this?

In the latest interview, James O’Neill, chief technology officer of the US-listed company Entegris, mentioned that in the current process of realizing advanced production processes,It’s no longer the machines that make chips that take center stage, but advanced materials and cleaning solutions.

"Thirty years ago, it was all about lithography machines making transistors smaller (increasing performance)," O'Neill said. "Today, it would be a solid proposition to claim that material innovation is the main driver of improved performance."

KaiBeckmann, CEO of the electronics business of Germany's Merck, was less explicit, but he also recognized this view. Beckmann said,Now the electronics industry is moving from an era of relying on tools to advance technology in the past two decades to the next decade of the so-called "materials era."

For 2nm chips that are expected to be mass-produced in 2025,The design of the chips themselves is becoming more complex. When humans broke through the 22nm node, traditional planar transistors began to be replaced by fin structures (FinFETs). At the 3nm node, all-around gate transistors (Gate-All-AroundFET) became the industry's preferred solution. It can also be seen from the schematic diagram that nowTransistors in chips are being stacked in more complex ways.


(Three structural diagrams, source: Samsung)

The memory chip is easier to explain. Manufacturers such as Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron are competing in the 3D NAND field to see who has more chip stacks. At present, the number of chip layers produced by these three companies can reach 230 layers, and they are working hard to break through 300 layers within 1 to 2 years. The more layers you stack, the greater the storage capacity. At the same time, the industry is also actively exploring the development of 3D flash memory chips.

Further progress in both areas will require not only more sophisticated lithography machines, but also new cutting-edge materials.

O'Neill likened the chemicals used in 3D transistors to ""Spray-painting New York City from a helicopter" - requires the ability to control the properties of materials sprayed on the tops, sides of buildings and on street level, and then have the ability to clean up the streets afterward. For new transistor structures such as GAA, new and innovative materials will also need to be developed to ensure even coverage of top, bottom and sides. The materials industry is currently working on ways to achieve this at the atomic scale.

Another reason chemicals are becoming more important is production-based yield, which is critical to a chip company's commercial competitiveness. O'Neill said high-purity chemicals are critical to ensuring flawless production and minimizing defects.

Beckmann also cited 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 like molybdenum.

Of course, the word innovation usually has nothing to do with cheapness. According to current industry expectations,The cost of a single 2nm wafer may be as high as US$30,000, which is 50% higher than the current most cutting-edge iPhone15Pro processor (3nm). Similar to the current AI industry, the strong get stronger is likely to remain the tone of this industry.

Bertrand Roy, CEO of Intergo, concluded that this is a highly capital-intensive industry. He expects the same trend to continue - larger companies will become stronger and willing to continue investing because that will be their source of competitive advantage.