The technology of the integrated circuit mask industry has made great progress.

Time flies, time has entered the 21st century, and the great achievements of the electronic information industry since the reform and opening up in 40 years are obvious to all! Today's integrated circuit-related technologies and industries are developing very fast. It is hard to imagine. In today's high-speed information era, the speed and the Moore's Law bring the endless innovation and change to the social life, and promote the rapid development of the modern information industry.

Great technological progress in the mask industry

With the development of integrated circuits, the first is the development of semiconductor (integrated circuit) lithography, which has undergone the initial contact/proximity photomask technology, and then to overcome mask defects and resolution. The further reduction of the rate has forced process technicians to further seek new lithography methods to meet the requirements of mass production and line width reduction. In 1976, GCA of the United States first developed the world's first step-and-repeat projection exposure system. The industry has successfully developed a step-and-scan projection exposure machine with a larger exposure field of view. With the continuous maturity of this exposure technology, the integrated circuit pattern line width is further advanced to 0.35 μm node, and the corresponding mask plate-making technology has also been obtained. Significantly improved. Today's world's most advanced lithography technology has spanned to 7nm.

In the early 1980s, along with the development of the domestic integrated circuit industry, domestic research institutes and factories began to conduct mask research and production for integrated circuits. In the 40 years of reform and opening up, the mask industry has also evolved from the original sporadic, scattered small factories and workshops, with technical levels above 10 μm, to today's letterpress photomasks, China Resources Mask Factory, Wuxi Micro-Mask and Core-International and other large-scale mask-based enterprises, the overall technical level has reached the highest 28nm node, the technological progress is huge, and at the same time greatly narrowed the gap with the international advanced level, laying a solid foundation for industrial development.

集成电路掩模行业技术进步巨大,把握发展新时代

Promote mask projects in conjunction with market demand

The 40 years of reform and opening up have brought about profound changes in China's economy and society, and have also injected new vitality and vitality into the development of China's integrated circuit industry. The construction practice of Wuxi's micro-mask has successfully confirmed the new vitality brought by development!

The technology of integrated circuit technology and products is changing rapidly. New technologies and new processes are rapidly emerging. Only by well grasping the requirements of market demand changes, and keeping pace with market changes, project construction can be successful. The construction of Wuxi's micro-mask project is to fully understand the needs and changes of the domestic mask market. It has been implemented after sufficient demonstration for the actual needs and future development requirements of domestic foundry and a large number of design companies. The technology node aimed at the mask requirements of the 8-inch wafer production line and directly built a public service platform with a mask for developing and producing 130nm integrated circuits. After the project was put into production, it played its due role.

Today, with the rapid development of integrated circuit technology, the innovation of industrial integration mode has become an important factor for today's enterprises to win in the competition. The industrial ecology has been diverging from the initial IDM model to the FABLESS and FOUNDRY models. The major professional companies in the world are still rapidly becoming the industry leaders in the IDM model, but more second-tier companies are moving towards and sharing synergies. The transformation of the cooperative development model has also achieved good results. Therefore, the development of the domestic mask industry should follow the concept of cooperative development. We must adhere to the road of development with Chinese characteristics, and learn from the experience of learning from other foreign excellent enterprises, and explore and embark on a road of self-development suitable for national conditions.

The integrated circuit industry is first and foremost a system engineering, usually a capital-intensive, talent-intensive industry. The higher the starting point of project construction, the greater the investment. It is necessary to form production and R&D capabilities of corresponding scales, have a certain scale, and form economies of scale in order to maintain good development. At the same time, in order to keep up with the ever-changing market demand and the continuous improvement of the overall technical level of the industry and the expansion of production capacity, continuous capital investment is required. In the introduction and training of talents, we must focus on building a team of first-class technology, chip design and management talents to ensure continuous innovation of technology and products and efficient operation of enterprises. In the technical reserve and introduction work, we must form our own advanced technology and chip design service capabilities, and have a number of independent intellectual property rights and patents.

Practice has proved that most of the integrated circuit industry at home and abroad adopts the strategy of concentrating manpower and material resources, focusing on construction, integration of upstream and downstream, and planning and seeking common development. The development of the industry is more of mutual cooperation, rather than a single-handed situation. The development of the mask industry for integrated circuits is gradually established and developed under the guidance of this background and development ideas. The enterprises within the industry are more collaborative, cooperative and supportive.

The successful construction of the mask project is based on the government's strong support, combined with market segmentation and customer needs, and the correct choices made after comprehensive evaluation. After the project is completed, it has achieved good social benefits and enterprise development.

The development of the mask industry welcomes the opportunity period

The development of China's integrated circuit industry is facing unprecedented new opportunities. On the one hand, China has gradually become the largest consumer of integrated circuits in the world. On the other hand, domestic and international well-known enterprises have landed in China to build new fabs in the next few years. The positive changes in the above industrial markets can be said to be a major historical opportunity for the development of the mask industry. We must seize the opportunity, work together, and comprehensively demonstrate the project and demonstrate the overall situation. Construction, expand the depth and breadth of international cooperation, and carry out cooperation in a multi-channel and all-round way to achieve a leap in the development of the mask industry.

Innovation is the soul of industrial development and an inexhaustible motive force. The innovation and development of the mask industry should not only stay in technology and management, but also put institutional and institutional innovation in a prominent position, stimulate the subjective creativity of talents, and ultimately create the core competitiveness of long-term development of enterprises.

The development of technology and industry today has brought about tremendous changes in social life. We have noticed that today, with the gradual popularization of Internet of Things, big data, and AI smart applications, the development and application requirements of integrated circuits have undergone tremendous changes to new energy. These areas, such as smart industry and data analysis, will profoundly affect the application of our future life, and greatly promote the development of the semiconductor industry. It will likely become a large industry that will affect future economic and social development.

Looking back, we are full of confidence! Looking forward to the future, we are brave! I believe that the integrated circuit mask industry will usher in a new era of development!