The companies are developing technologies that involve
self-aligned quadruple patterning, or SAQP, and should reduce their reliance on
high-end lithography, according to patent filings to the Chinese intellectual
property authority. That may allow them to produce advanced chips without ASML
Holding NV’s state-of-the-art extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment.
Netherlands-based ASML, the sole provider of EUV machines, cannot sell them
into China because of export controls.
Quadruple patterning is a technique for etching lines on
silicon wafers multiple times to increase transistor density — and therefore
performance. Huawei’s patent application, released on Friday, describes a
method that uses the technology to make more sophisticated semiconductors.
“Adoption of this patent will increase the design freedom of circuit patterns,”
said the filing to China National Intellectual Property Administration.
SiCarrier, a state-backed chipmaking gear developer that
works with Huawei, was granted a patent that involves SAQP, in late 2023. Its
patent employs deep ultraviolet lithography, or DUV, chipmaking machines and
the SAQP technology to achieve certain technical thresholds seen on 5 nanometer
chips, according to its filing. The practice can avoid the use of EUV machines
while reducing manufacturing cost, it said.
Quadruple-patterning technology is good enough for China to
make chips at 5nm, but China still needs to get its hands on EUV machines in
the long run, according to Dan Hutcheson, vice-chairman at research firm
TechInsights. “It can mitigate them, but not completely overcome the technical
issues of not having EUV,” he said.
Leading chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Corp. use EUV machines to produce advanced chips because they have the highest
production yields — meaning the cost per chip is minimized. If Huawei and its
partners use alternative methods for semiconductor production, their cost per
chip may be higher than the industry’s standards.
The most advanced chips now in commercial production use 3nm
technology, including chips that TSMC makes for the likes of Apple Inc. China
is currently capable of making 7nm chips, two generations behind, but advancing
to 5nm would put it only a single generation behind the global leaders.
The US and its allies have been tightening China’s access to
semiconductors and chipmaking equipment for years, with the Biden
administration arguing such controls are necessary for national security. That
includes bans on the export of ASML’s EUV chipmaking machines and Nvidia
Corp.’s most powerful graphic processors, used for training artificial
intelligence services.
But Chinese companies are investing billions to develop
their domestic chip capabilities and Huawei unveiled a breakthrough smartphone
last year that was powered by an advanced 7nm processor. That suggested the
country’s tech sector is making progress despite the efforts of the US, the
Netherlands and Japan.
In response, the Biden administration is looking for
additional means to contain China’s progress. It’s pressing allies like South
Korea and Germany to join the effort, and is considering blacklisting even more
Chinese chip firms linked to Huawei, including SiCarrier.
A cohort of Chinese chip equipment makers including Naura
Technology Group Co. and Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc., are also
looking into complementing multiple patterning technology with etching systems
to produce 7nm or more advanced chips because EUVs are out of reach, according
to a memo authored by Citigroup’s analysts including Jamie Wang and Kevin Chen.
“Chinese semiconductor companies mainly resort to SAQP to
produce advanced chips, which could increase the density of etching machines in
China,” it said.
Beijing this year has thrown its backing fully behind the nation’s most prominent suppliers of chipmaking gear. This month, Premier Li Qiang visited the offices of Naura Technology in a widely publicized personal tour, usually orchestrated to signal central government support.
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