With the development of the global semiconductor industry, semiconductor materials have become the foundational materials for high-tech industries in the 21st century information society and big data era. Their development is of great significance for high-speed computing, large-capacity information communication, storage, processing, electronic countermeasures, miniaturization and intelligence of weapons and equipment, and even for the development of the national economy and national security.
Electronic gases, as one of the indispensable basic and supporting materials in the production of ultra-large-scale integrated circuits, flat panel displays, compound semiconductor devices, solar cells, and optical fibers, are widely used in processes such as thin film, etching, doping, vapor deposition, and diffusion. Without these basic raw materials, downstream products like IC, LCD/LED, and photovoltaic solar cells cannot be manufactured, and the normal production capacity of imported equipment cannot be released. This would inevitably lead to control over China's manufacturing costs by a few raw material suppliers. Therefore, the development of electronic gases in China plays a crucial role in the development of the semiconductor industry.
I. Global Semiconductor Material Market Analysis and Semiconductor Development Requirements for Electronic Gases
1. Global Semiconductor Material Market Analysis
According to research by Gartner, a leading global information technology research and advisory company, global semiconductor revenue is expected to exceed $400 billion for the first time in 2017, reaching $401.4 billion, an increase of 18.4% compared to 2016; global semiconductor market sales in 2016 were $343.5 billion, a 2.6% increase from $334.9 billion in 2015. According to the latest statistics from the International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Industry Association (SEMI), global semiconductor material market revenue in 2016 was $44.3 billion, a 2.3% increase compared to 2015; among which, the wafer manufacturing material market was $24.7 billion, and the packaging material market was $19.6 billion, growing by 3.1% and 1.4% respectively compared to 2015; Taiwan accounted for $9.79 billion, representing 22.1% of the market, and has been the largest market for seven consecutive years, driven by large wafer manufacturing plants and advanced packaging bases. South Korea, North America, and Europe have seen slight growth, while the Chinese mainland market share increased by 8% compared to the previous year. This indicates the rise of the Chinese semiconductor material market, and it is expected to maintain growth in the future based on the vast consumer market. The semiconductor material market size by region for 2015 and 2016 is shown in the table below.
Semiconductor Material Market Size by Region for 2015 and 2016 (Unit: $100 million)
Note: Source: International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Industry Association (SEMI). Amounts and percentages may not add up due to rounding; other regions refer to Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, other Southeast Asian regions, and smaller global markets.
2. Trends in Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Development
The integrated circuit industry continues to develop according to Moore's Law, with process nodes continuously shrinking. Today, Samsung has mastered 7nm, and TSMC has mass-produced 10nm. Chip 3D technology is becoming increasingly mature, with the overall trend being narrower line widths and more layers in 3D NAND. Over the decades, the integrated circuit industry has developed along Moore's Law. In 1971, the process node for integrated circuits was 10 micrometers (one-hundredth of a millimeter), and this year TSMC will begin mass production of 10 nanometers (one-hundred-thousandth of a millimeter), shrinking the technology node to one-thousandth, meaning the transistor area has shrunk to one-millionth. The development trends of semiconductor technology in recent years are shown in Figure 1 below.
3. Semiconductor Development Requirements for Electronic Gases
With the development of semiconductor integrated circuit technology, the requirements for the purity and quality of electronic gases are becoming increasingly stringent. The current development goals for electronic gases in China are to increase variety, increase production, improve localization rates, and strive to complete the development of full-set technologies for the production and application of special gases. These technologies include: purification, monitoring, filling, transportation, and storage of high-risk, flammable, explosive, corrosive, and highly toxic gases, as well as safety, environmental protection technologies, on-site gas distribution technologies, recycling, and reuse technologies.
At the same time, to improve the efficiency of mixed gas use, solve the safe use and transportation of electronic gases, especially high-purity fluorine gas, promote the use of green gases, and meet the requirements for reducing waste gas treatment costs and environmental protection, the development direction of high-purity electronic gases is determined to be: green gases, on-site generation technology, and recycling technology.
II. Current Status of Electronic Gas Development in China
1. Development Status of China's Integrated Circuit Industry
As a major global manufacturer of electronic products, China's global position in the electronic information industry has rapidly improved in recent years, with the industrial chain becoming increasingly mature, providing opportunities for the development of China's integrated circuit industry. Especially with the implementation of the "National Integrated Circuit Industry Promotion Outline" in 2014, the localization of large-scale integrated circuits has been listed as a medium- and long-term development plan by the Chinese government. The launch of the big fund project and the establishment of local funds, combined with the joint efforts and support of enterprises under the Ministry of Science and Technology's 02 Special Project and the Integrated Circuit Materials and Components Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance, have led to the initial formation of an integrated circuit industry, manufacturing materials, and component supply chain in mainland China after nearly a decade of effort. This has propelled China's integrated circuit industry into a new golden development period, with the Chinese market becoming one of the main driving forces for global integrated circuit market growth.
Integrated circuits have always accounted for 80% of semiconductor product sales, and in recent years, this has exceeded 90%. The business scale far exceeds the three major segments of discrete devices, optoelectronic devices, and sensors in the semiconductor industry, long occupying a large part of the industry market size, with broad market space, and showing rapid growth in recent years. It is predicted that the domestic integrated circuit industry will reach 535.52 billion yuan in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 23.5%.
2. Current Status of Semiconductor Material Development in China
Semiconductor materials are essential basic materials for the manufacturing process, being the upstream industry of the manufacturing process and also the upstream of the entire industrial chain. The integrated circuit industry cannot do without material support, and dozens of main raw materials are needed in the integrated circuit manufacturing process. The quality and supply of materials directly affect the quality and competitiveness of integrated circuits, making the material industry an important part of the upstream of the integrated circuit industrial chain. Currently, the main materials for integrated circuit manufacturing include silicon materials, masks, electronic gases, process chemicals, photoresists, polishing materials, targets, and packaging materials. The total market for wafer manufacturing electronic materials in China reached 34.303 billion yuan in 2016, a 6.9% increase from 2015, and is expected to reach 35.936 billion yuan in 2017.
3. Current Status of Electronic Gas Development in China
(1) Electronic gases are the second largest market demand semiconductor material in China, second only to silicon wafers and silicon-based materials. The domestic market demand for electronic gases in 2016 was 4.802 billion yuan, accounting for 14%. According to global semiconductor association statistics, there are currently more than 60 commonly used pure electronic gases and more than 80 mixed gases. After nearly 10 years of development, some domestic electronic gas manufacturers have emerged with stable production quality and acceptance by semiconductor customers. However, compared to the huge and rapidly growing domestic demand, this is far from enough. According to incomplete industry statistics, from 2012 to 2016, the actual production sales of domestic electronic gas enterprises accounted for 3.8% to 25.0% of the domestic wafer manufacturing electronic gas market demand, and it is expected to increase to 28.4% in 2017. Although there has been significant development and progress, the total production of domestic electronic gas enterprises still far from meets domestic market demand.
(2) Foreign electronic gas enterprises are mostly large multinational companies with strong strength and technical accumulation, covering a wide range of businesses, and can provide many gas services to enterprises simultaneously, with strong competitiveness. Domestic electronic gas production enterprises have a large gap compared to foreign large companies, with huge development space.
In addition, the current problems in the development of domestic electronic gases are specifically manifested as: A. The overall industry scale is not large, the localization rate is low, enterprise scale is small, lacking leading enterprises, and easily subject to exclusion and suppression by foreign large enterprises; B. Insufficient new material technology in high-end manufacturing, with a large number of repeated constructions and expansions of low technical threshold gas types, leading to severe disorderly competition; C. Some electronic gas enterprises have transitioned from the large chemical industry or industrial gases, with inadequate quality awareness, management concepts, and safety management levels, resulting in poor product quality stability in some cases.
In summary, electronic gases in China are still a shortcoming in the development of electronic materials and need to be vigorously developed. Therefore, it is recommended that the state implement and improve preferential policies such as taxation and funding for such enterprises, increase financial support from fiscal funds, big funds, and financial departments, guide integrated circuit manufacturers to use domestic electronic gases, thereby helping enterprises seize development opportunities, accelerate technological progress, and grow stronger; enterprises should strive to improve technological innovation and management levels, strengthen quality control, and serve customers with high-quality products.
The 718th Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (hereinafter referred to as CSIC 718) adheres to deep civil-military integration and continuous technological innovation, breaking through technical barriers, and has successively developed high-purity nitrogen trifluoride, tungsten hexafluoride gas, and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid series products, achieving large-scale production, filling domestic gaps, breaking the price control of nitrogen trifluoride and tungsten hexafluoride by foreign enterprises, enhancing the competitiveness of downstream products in the international market, and making outstanding contributions to the development of the domestic semiconductor and liquid crystal panel industries.
As of now, the production capacity of nitrogen trifluoride and tungsten hexafluoride will reach 9,000 tons/year and 1,300 tons/year respectively in the near future, with both products ranking first domestically and among the top three globally, basically entering all domestic semiconductor, liquid crystal panel, and solar industry manufacturers and globally renowned semiconductor manufacturers, such as TSMC, GlobalFoundries, SK Hynix, Intel, Toshiba, Samsung, SMIC, Innolux, BOE, CEC Panda, and TCL CSOT. Now, CSIC 718 is seizing the opportunity, continuing to do a good job in technological innovation, accelerating capacity construction, and will expand the production capacity of nitrogen trifluoride and tungsten hexafluoride to 16,000 tons/year and 2,000 tons/year by 2020, striving to become the world's leading electronic special gas material production service provider.
In addition, since the approval of the 02 Special Project "High-Purity Electronic Gas Research and Development and Industrialization" by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2013, CSIC 718 has also been engaged in the research and development and industrialization of seven electronic gases including SiF4, C2F6, C3F8, C4F8, HF, HCl, COF2, and ten mixed gases. Currently, the development of the above gases has been successfully completed, most of which have passed the testing of well-known domestic semiconductor enterprises, and are actively realizing mass production.
In summary, the electronic gas industry in China is still in the early stages of development, with a relatively small overall industry scale and insufficient strength of individual enterprises. At this time, the Chinese semiconductor industry, from the previous 100 billion yuan support plan to "Made in China 2025," is just at the incubation and rise of new growth points. Therefore, the Chinese electronic gas industry is facing unprecedented development opportunities. It is hoped that electronic gas enterprises will accelerate forward-looking layouts, strengthen technological innovation, accelerate application promotion, and actively develop and grow; it is also hoped that relevant departments, investment units, and semiconductor enterprises will attach great importance to this, making new and greater contributions to the improvement of China's integrated circuit materials and components industrial chain and semiconductor development.
