Youyan Yijin Wins the 5th “IC Innovation Award – Industrialization of Achievements” from the Grand Alliance.

On July 9, 2022, the "2022 China Integrated Circuit Innovation Alliance Conference"—the most influential event in China's integrated circuit industry—was held. During the conference, the fifth Integrated Circuit Industry Technology Innovation Award (referred to as the "IC Innovation Award") was presented. Youyan Yijin New Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Youyan Yijin") won the fifth "IC Innovation Award—Achievement Industrialization Award" for its project titled "Mass Production and Application of Ultra-High-Purity Copper and Its Alloy Targets for 12-Inch Integrated Circuits."

The “IC Innovation Award,” organized by the China Integrated Circuit Innovation Alliance, is nominated and reviewed by leading technical experts in China’s integrated circuit industry, strategic scientists, and top-tier authorities in the fields relevant to the submitted projects. It is one of the most important technological awards in the integrated circuit industry. The “Top Ten Industrialization Achievements” award for the entire integrated circuit industry chain covers all areas—including integrated circuit design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, equipment, and materials—and aims to recognize organizations that have achieved outstanding results in promoting the industrialization of innovative integrated circuit technologies and expanding their market presence. In the materials sector, only two companies were awarded. Youyan Yijin’s “Mass Production and Application of Ultra-High-Purity Copper and Its Alloy Targets for 12-Inch Integrated Circuits” has successfully broken through the technological barriers in the preparation of ultra-high-purity copper and its alloy targets for high-end integrated circuits, reversing the long-standing passive situation in which these products were monopolized by foreign suppliers. This breakthrough provides critical support for the development of extreme-scale integrated circuit technologies and strongly safeguards the security of China’s integrated circuit industry chain and supply chain.

Ultra-high-purity copper and its alloy targets are the most critical interconnect materials in advanced integrated circuit manufacturing processes. In 12-inch wafer fabrication, they are used for interconnecting components in chips manufactured using advanced processes ranging from 90nm to 7nm; in advanced back-end packaging, they serve as high-density interconnections between chips. With support from major national science and technology programs and Beijing municipal science and technology projects, Youyan Yijin has, over more than a decade of persistent effort and continuous innovation, independently mastered several core key technologies in the preparation of ultra-high-purity copper and its alloy targets—including deep purification of ultra-high-purity copper, high-quality melting and casting, microstructure control, and highly reliable welding. The performance of these products has reached internationally advanced levels, filling a domestic gap. This project has also achieved tiered utilization of ultra-high-purity copper raw materials, as well as low-carbon, green, and recyclable practices, thereby solving the engineering challenges associated with stable, large-scale production control of ultra-high-purity targets. Youyan Yijin has become one of only a handful of companies worldwide that possess a fully integrated, end-to-end technology—from raw material purification to target preparation—at the 99.9999% ultra-high-purity level for copper and its alloys, establishing itself as a key supplier of ultra-high-purity copper and alloy targets for China’s integrated circuit industry.

“Cultivate virtue and honor humility, and strive for ultimate excellence.” With this award as an opportunity, Youyan Yijin will continue to forge ahead with unwavering dedication, pursuing new breakthroughs in critical core technologies and endeavoring to become a leader in the field of core materials for integrated circuits, thus contributing our part to the soaring development of China’s integrated circuit industry.

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