According to Oreste Donzella, the global semiconductor equipment industry recorded a record revenue in 2017, exceeding US$40 billion for the first time, an increase of 27% year-on-year, exceeding the overall growth rate of the semiconductor industry (about 21%). As the world’s leading process control and yield KLA-Tencor, the equipment supplier of management solutions, is very optimistic about the future development of China's semiconductor market.
China will become a turning point in the development of the semiconductor industry
Since the advent of the semiconductor industry, it has gone through four major stages of development, namely, the initial development period driven by military and original computers, the rapid development period based on memory and host computers, the civil development period based on PCs, and the maturity period based on consumer electronics. The entire industry experienced several major transitions. The first transition was from the United States to Japan; the second was from Japan to South Korea and Taiwan.
With the rapid development of China's semiconductor industry in recent years, and China’s strong investment in the semiconductor industry, many people think that China will become the third transfer destination of the semiconductor industry. KLA-Tencor President and CEO Rick Wallace In the opening speech of SEMICON China in the near future, this viewpoint was also approved.
Oreste Donzella believes that there are two turning points in the current semiconductor industry: First, new applications, such as 5G, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, AR/VR and autonomous driving, etc. Second, China, taking the current development trend of China's semiconductor industry, will A big turning point has been formed for the future development of the semiconductor industry as a whole.
'We judge the semiconductor industry will grow, but did not expect to grow so fast. I expect the market will maintain its growth momentum. Looking at the future of the semiconductor industry is still very bright. 'Oreste Donzella said, 'Semiconductor projects are blossoming in China. From the northeast to Shenzhen, from Shanghai to Chongqing, Chengdu, all new projects. KLA-Tencor China orders increased by 3 times from 2016 to 2017. '
Process Control Technology Trends and Challenges
With the establishment of new fabs in various parts of China, this blossoming trend has brought great opportunities for equipment manufacturers, but at the same time, the challenges are also on the rise.
What is the main challenge? In response, Oreste Donzella explained, 'There are more and more steps in the current semiconductor process. From the original hundreds of steps to the current one or two thousand steps, there are more than one billion transistors. More than a mile long wire is placed on a large stamped wafer; in addition, the precision and accuracy required for semiconductor processing are also very high. If only the first and last test is unrealistic, there are thousands of wires. In the middle of the latest semiconductor process steps, a lot of testing and measurement steps must be added to ensure that no fatal problems occur during device manufacturing, resulting in zero final product yield.
Process control can help manufacturers to follow the process design to avoid unnecessary problems that affect the yield. Oreste Donzella said: 'Process control is actually very simple, is to help our customers maintain their products and equipment in the manufacturing process. , they can perfectly meet the standards they need to design.
Process control can be divided into two major parts: one is inspection; the other is measurement. The inspection is to find any defects in the process; the measurement is to determine that in the measurement, all the steps can meet the design standards. 'The entire process The essence of control is in three phases: R&D, primary mass production, and finally mass production to help our customers, how can we shorten the R&D time and increase the yield of final production. 'Oreste Donzella explained.
KLA-Tencor focuses on the Chinese market
'2017 is a super big year for Corey. Although it is difficult to maintain similar growth rates in 2018, it will maintain its strong performance, especially in the mainland market. ' Oreste Donzella said.
As an expert in process control, KLA-Tencor attaches great importance to the Chinese market and has devoted a lot of energy and resources to help China's semiconductor growth. Mr. Zhang Zhi'an, president of KLA-Tencor China, stated that China wants to develop the semiconductor industry, market, funds, and talents. And these four major elements of technology are indispensable.
At the same time, Zhang Zhian said: 'At present, China's semiconductor industry wants to further develop. It must solve the problem of shortage of talent. This is a very big challenge, not only for the KLA-Tencor, the entire industry chain is facing this problem. KLA-Tencor also invested a lot in this section.
In addition, Zhang Zhian added that KLA-Tencor has also begun to transfer R&D to China, providing local customers with fast and convenient services. Especially in process control, KLA-Tencor hopes to help China's semiconductor industry accelerate growth.