An assessment found that China's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment technology lags about 15 years behind the global leaders. While China is accelerating the localization of semiconductor equipment, analysts said there remains a significant technology gap in EUV, the core of cutting-edge processes.
On the 3rd, according to Bloomberg and others, Frank Riemann, who oversees the semiconductor institutional sector at the German optics company Zeiss Group, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, "China needs 15 years to develop EUV lithography equipment," adding, "However, it is difficult to quantify China's level of progress."
EUV lithography equipment is essential for advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Currently, only ASML of the Netherlands produces it worldwide. Zeiss exclusively supplies the key optical components installed in EUV equipment. In 2017, ASML acquired equity in Zeiss's semiconductor institutional sector for 1 billion euros (about 1.57 trillion won).
The United States is restricting exports of EUV equipment to China to deter China's acquisition of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor technologies. China is procuring deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography equipment, the previous-generation technology to EUV, from ASML, but the United States is also tightening export controls on the latest DUV equipment.
In response, China is continuing large-scale investments to make its semiconductor equipment supply chain self-sufficient. Investment bank UBS also assessed in a recent report that China's own EUV technology is at least about 10 years behind.
China's push to localize DUV equipment is moving faster than EUV. On July, there was a report that a Chinese corporations in Shanghai was manufacturing its own DUV lithography equipment.
Regarding this, Riemann said, "This is not surprising, and we have to see what level of performance Chinese equipment actually has," adding, "We are still ahead."
However, he also noted the possibility that U.S. export restrictions could, in the long run, spur China's localization of equipment. Riemann said that broader export restrictions could negatively affect Zeiss's business, adding, "Export limits will instead accelerate technological innovation within China."