I. Ten years of China's emerging semiconductor materials
In the past ten years, China's semiconductor materials have emerged as a group of emerging semiconductor materials companies, such as Jiangfeng Electronics, Shanghai Xinao, Shanghai Xinyang, Nanda Optoelectronics, Beijing Kehua, and Anji Microelectronics. These materials companies cultivated in China have experienced the intrepid and hardships of the initial period, experienced the confusion and struggle of the global financial crisis, and entered a turning point in the development of good development after 2009. After ten years of experience in growth, I have passed the test of survival. The 2011 Japanese tsunami allowed the global semiconductor industry to rethink the reliability and sustainability of the supply chain, which also brought new opportunities to our Chinese local materials companies. We are conscious and have the ability to try to go abroad and seek a broader but more challenging overseas market! This also marks that China Semiconductor Materials has entered a new era of development after ten years of development!
Second, the status of domestic semiconductor materials companies
In the past ten years, through the enterprise's own efforts and the strong support of the 02 special project, the local material enterprises as a whole are on the rise, which is reflected in the expansion of the business scale and business scope, the team is more mature, and the strength of survival and development is improving. From the initial replacement of mature technology node products to the market, and gradually began to intervene in the development of leading technology node products, the technological gap with the international advanced level has gradually narrowed, the local brand effect has begun to appear, and the product has entered the international market. Step, the semiconductor material product "Made in China" began to be recognized by the industry's leading users Intel, TSMC and so on. Chinese material enterprises have squeezed into the users from the original "passive", and there has been a new situation in which users "actively" invite cooperation.
Third, the challenges and opportunities
With the rapid development of China's semiconductor materials companies, the difficulties and bottlenecks of our own growth have begun to emerge, mainly in the following aspects:
In terms of operations, systemic management is becoming more and more important. Capacity expansion, R&D level improvement, team building and training model have gone hand in hand. A wide enough technology and talent platform is needed to support the expansion of the customer base in the process of expanding overseas and to provide long-distance services overseas. How to keep up with the pace and cycle of new integrated circuit technologies? How to further expand the coverage of the domestic market? How to ensure that there is enough strength and resources to go abroad?
In terms of technology development, new technologies and new applications are constantly appearing. The extension of Moore's Law, three-dimensional integrated circuits (TSVs), large-size wafers, new devices, and new materials continue to bring new opportunities to materials companies with higher challenges. Taking the CMP grinding process as an example, the process has been extended from the initial mature 3-4 steps to the current 20-step process at 20 nanometers and below, and its technical difficulty is unprecedented. The 20/14nm integrated circuit process technology revolutionized the introduction of FinFET devices. The height dimensions of all fins in the chip must be defined by the same CMP grinding process. The removal rate, selection ratio, surface roughness and defects of different materials are The accuracy is as high as angstrom (molecular level), and the challenge is evident.
In terms of the market, the characteristics of regional and large customer drivers are still obvious. Taking chemical mechanical polishing liquid as an example, in 2012, the global integrated circuit CMP slurry was about 1 billion US dollars, and has an annual growth rate of nearly 20%. Most of the market is concentrated overseas, and the domestic market share is less than 10%. Also one to two generations behind. Therefore, under the premise of serving domestic users, China's semiconductor materials companies need to move faster to overseas markets in terms of their own development and breadth. For us, challenges and opportunities coexist.
Fourth, the case description
Taking Anji Microelectronics as an example, technological innovation and cost advantage are the core competitiveness of the company's products. After years of development, Anji Microelectronics successfully developed copper/barrier layer and silica slurry, through-silicon via, photoresist remover and other technologies. The core products have entered the user side and achieved mass sales. Among them, the copper/barrier layer and the silica slurry have high planarization efficiency, high polishing rate, low defect, and cost advantage. The through-silicon via products are leading in technology and diverse in products. The photoresist remover has the advantages of high removal rate and low cost. With its solid technology, comprehensive service user experience, price advantage, and rapid response, Anji Microelectronics has been widely recognized by users in the market and has begun to take the first step toward the world.
In recent years, with the support of the 02 special project and the material alliance, Anji Microelectronics has established an 8-inch CMP slurry development platform during the implementation of the “Eleventh Five-Year” project to achieve a breakthrough in the industrialization of domestic integrated circuit polishing fluid. Successfully used in large-scale production lines. After that, through the implementation of the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” project, a 12-inch slurry development platform was established, and the product was successfully used in the 45/40nm production line. The 28nm process node product is being jointly developed with SMIC, and the product is also used by representative foreign users. Anji Microelectronics is recognized as a leading supplier of integrated circuit polishing fluids in China by industry-leading users.
With the further support of the 20/14nm integrated circuit process technology, Anji Microelectronics will overcome the new challenges brought by the industry's technology from flat to stereo to grinding and cleaning, and develop a series of grinding fluids and cleaning fluids that meet the special needs of FinFET. . Anji Microelectronics will take another significant step in its growth as a supplier of integrated circuit materials at the international level.
V. Some thoughts on the development of enterprises
The road to growth and growth of a company is a spiraling process of constantly seeking opportunities, meeting challenges, and solving problems. What are the competitive advantages of enterprises? How to position products, technologies and markets? It is the fundamental problem that every entrepreneur should think about from time to time. In addition to providing quality products and services for domestic users, how do we go abroad and integrate into the international platform of the industry to grasp the industry and technology direction? How to scale and make mature technology sustainable? How to seek mutual cooperation between industry companies? The core technology and products complement each other, the culture is harmonious, and the independent development and marriage cooperation are realized. How can the enterprise's development speed and survival and anti-risk ability be greatly improved? I believe that under the coordinated support and support of the 02 special project, material alliance, users and investors, China's domestic semiconductor materials industry will enter a glorious period! A group of emerging local semiconductor materials companies will win a piece of our territory on the world map!
