Huawei patents EUV lithography tools used to make <10nm chips

[mongeese]

In context: Lithography machines are some of the most complex and expensive used in chip manufacturing. They generate steady beams of light in the ultraviolet spectrum and filter that light until it resembles the inverse of the floorplan of a microprocessor. They focus and point the light at a photosensitive wafer with a degree of precision in the tens of nanometers to carve out the floorplan.

Huawei has patented one component used in EUV lithography systems that is required to make high-end processors on sub-10 nm nodes. It solves the problem of interference patterns created by the ultraviolet light that would otherwise make the wafer uneven.

Huawei has solved an issue in the last step of chip manufacturing that's caused by the tiny wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. Its patent describes an array of mirrors that split the beam of light into multiple sub-beams that collide with their own microscopic mirrors. Each of those mirrors rotates differently to create different interference patterns in the light so that when they recombine, the interference patterns cancel out to create one uniform beam.

A render of the mirrors inside a lithography machine. Via ASML.

EUV lithography systems are currently made exclusively by Dutch company ASML. EUV lithography relies on the same principles as older forms of lithography but uses light with a wavelength of about 13.5 nm, which is almost an X-ray. ASML generates the ultraviolet light from fast-moving droplets of molten tin that are about 25 microns in diameter.

Also read: The Art of Making Chips Smaller

"As they fall," ASML explains, "the droplets are hit first by a low-intensity laser pulse that flattens them into a pancake shape. Then a more powerful laser pulse vaporizes the flattened droplet to create a plasma that emits EUV light. To produce enough light to manufacture microchips, this process is repeated 50,000 times every second."

A diagram of the mirrors from Huawei's patent.

ASML needed more than €6 billion and 17 years to develop the first batch of EUV lithography machines that could be sold. But before they were finished, the US government pressured the Dutch government into banning exports to China, restricting the nation to the older DUV (deep ultraviolet) technology. For now, only five companies are using or have announced plans to use ASML EUV lithography systems: Intel and Micron in the US, Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea, and TSMC in Taiwan.

Chinese companies like Huawei were previously able to send their designs to fabs like TSMC for manufacture with EUV lithography. But since the US imposed sanctions on China that has been decreasingly possible. Huawei needs access to the advanced nodes that use EUV lithography to continue to improve on its custom processors, which target everything from smartphones to data centers. It has a long way to go before it can make its own EUV systems but they are receiving plenty of capital and support from the government to get there.

Masthead credit: Fritzchens Fritz

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97072-huawei-patents-euv-lithography-tools-used-make-10nm.html

 

[kiwigraeme]

Competition is good.

It's only a matter of time - then you have the problem of the next big thing - who will get their first.

Used to remember the racist diatribes in the seventies - Japanese can't invent - the can only improve western design. They were all robots brought up under a mono-culture - not creative , free thinking like us in the west.

Sounded like a grain of truth - blown up to BS - Didn't believe it then or now

 

[Axeia]

Sounded like a grain of truth - blown up to BS - Didn't believe it then or now

It is bs. People anywhere can be creative and are, add to that that Shenzhen has a lot of technological resources in a small area and innovation in that area is a lot faster than it is in the West (especially since copyright and patents are generally much less of a worry there as well). Regarding this article I think it's just that necessity breeds innovation and Huawei doesn't have many other paths other than trying to do their own thing thanks due to the US cracking down on them.

 

[CovertGoat]

It is bs. People anywhere can be creative and are, add to that that Shenzhen has a lot of technological resources in a small area and innovation in that area is a lot faster than it is in the West (especially since copyright and patents are generally much less of a worry there as well). Regarding this article I think it's just that necessity breeds innovation and Huawei doesn't have many other paths other than trying to do their own thing thanks due to the US cracking down on them.

Big difference between creating patents and iteration to a functional product. EUV lithography machines are the most complex devices ever assembled. There are patents for UFO anti-gravity propulsion by the us navy but the likelihood of that being real is 0.00000001% atm.

China only has themselves to blame imo, since Xi came into office they’ve stolen so much technology worldwide, the cost is probably in the trillions. They invite foreign companies in, steal the product, then backstab the foreign company using state backed industries to price them out. Even their supposed all-weather ally was robbed, Russia arrested three hypersonic weapons engineers because they sold details about coatings to MSS.

Not sure I understand China buffs. If they make progress, good for them and best of luck. Meanwhile the Chips 5 group (Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, US) will continue to innovate thanks to monstrous funding.

 

[tellmewhy]

Scientists have recently built the first ultra violet laser, so we may soon see this process of vaporizing tiny pieces of tin to produce ultra violet light abandoned.

https://scitechdaily.com/worlds-fir...-ultraviolet-laser-diode-at-room-temperature/

 

[lithobear]

Scientists have recently built the first ultra violet laser, so we may soon see this process of vaporizing tiny pieces of tin to produce ultra violet light abandoned.

https://scitechdaily.com/worlds-fir...-ultraviolet-laser-diode-at-room-temperature/

UV lasers have been out for 20 years or more, and it’s not just a diode. These lasers are the size of a Honda. As for EUV, the UV lasers cannot achieve the necessary wavelength of light alone thus introducing the molten tin and generating a plasma that can.

 

[Hodor]

There are patents for UFO anti-gravity propulsion by the us navy but the likelihood of that being real is 0.00000001% atm.

I'm pretty sure extraterrestrials are using that patent.

Whether they are paying any royalties, that's an entirely different question.

 

[wildCursor]

Big difference between creating patents and iteration to a functional product. EUV lithography machines are the most complex devices ever assembled. There are patents for UFO anti-gravity propulsion by the us navy but the likelihood of that being real is 0.00000001% atm.

China only has themselves to blame imo, since Xi came into office they’ve stolen so much technology worldwide, the cost is probably in the trillions. They invite foreign companies in, steal the product, then backstab the foreign company using state backed industries to price them out. Even their supposed all-weather ally was robbed, Russia arrested three hypersonic weapons engineers because they sold details about coatings to MSS.

Not sure I understand China buffs. If they make progress, good for them and best of luck. Meanwhile the Chips 5 group (Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, US) will continue to innovate thanks to monstrous funding.

American, Korean and european companies are already paying Huawei for 5g patents. 65% of 5g patents are Huawei's.

Secondly if China is stealing the technology as you said. Then won't need these other companies at all?

America is only banning high value goods. The biggest benefits China has. It can develop anything alot cheaper than any other nation. No other can compete in good prices.

 

[liamzy]

The American sanctions basically amounted to slowing down the Chinese for 5-10 years, and forcing the Chinese government to spend 500-1000 billion subsidizing their semiconductor industry, while simultaneously creating a world-beating competitor if the Chinese don't get bombed / nuked / sanctioned to death before then.

The Chinese are expecting to have an indigenous DUV machine ready by 2024; the product just passed licensing a couple of weeks ago. The indigenous DUV machine is 15-20% the cost of a comparable European machine, or in other words, if the Chinese were to build a fully domestic semiconductor industry, they'd probably put everyone else out of business without sanctions against Chinese chips, which would probably happen.

In essence, the Western core will lock out Chinese technology, even if it's better, but the developing world will not, meaning that the Chinese end up getting lock-in in Latin America, the MENA region, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. India is more of an open question.