Japan: Semiconductor development / latest trends: TEL, NIKON, ADVANTEST
-What is the difference in focus points? –
Japanese semiconductor device manufacturer:
5 Japanese semiconductor device manufacturers,
Total R & D expenses for the fiscal year ending March 2022,
It is expected to increase 13.2% from the previous quarter to 276.5 billion yen.
Five manufacturers will tackle new technical issues such as miniaturization technology and packaging.
Tokyo Electron:
Tokyo Electron will increase R & D expenses for the seventh consecutive year.
R & D expenses are expected to increase 17.1% from the previous quarter to 160 billion yen.
Patterning technology:
One of the themes is “patterning technology” that draws fine semiconductor circuits.
Tokyo Electron has upgraded each device for film formation, coating / development, etching, and cleaning.
Etching process:
An etching process that removes unnecessary parts along a circuit baked on the wafer surface.
The development of the etching process
“Development building to be constructed in Yamanashi Prefecture” and
It will be done both at “a co-creation base with customers under construction in Miyagi Prefecture”.
Exposure equipment is of the utmost importance for the realization of miniaturization.
Nikon:
There has been no major change in R & D expenses in the field of semiconductor / FPD exposure equipment.
On the other hand, “In the field of next-generation exposure equipment, the amount has increased by billions of yen.”
Next-generation semiconductor exposure equipment:
We will focus on the development of semiconductor exposure equipment for the next generation.
For example, we are developing a device that can expose wafers without a mask.
At the stage of basic development, this commercialization takes time.
“The merit of being able to manufacture large-sized chips regardless of mask size” is expected.
Disco:
R & D expenses for the fiscal year ending March 2022 are expected to increase by 5.7% year-on-year.
What is expected is “adding value to packaging.”
Kazuma Sekiya:
The high value added of packaging is happening fiercely now.
In other words
pre-process
The degree of integration has not increased at the previous pace.
Post-process
Semiconductor manufacturers have begun to notice that they will add value in the future.
Advantest:
We see “miniaturization of semiconductors and the spread of advanced packages” as a business opportunity.
Most of the R & D expenses
For 5G and AI
It will be devoted to the development of semiconductor test equipment.
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