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In the rapid development of the global semiconductor industry, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) technology has become a key technology to improve the surface planarization of wafers and achieve more advanced chip manufacturing. CMP technology plays a vital role in different semiconductor manufacturing processes, and its main applications include the global planarization process, which ensures atomic-level flatness of the wafer surface, which is essential for subsequent processes such as lithography and etching. With the advancement of chip process technology to 5nm and beyond, the frequency of use and process requirements of CMP have increased significantly, and their proportion of the total cost of semiconductor manufacturing has gradually increased.
In the semiconductor manufacturing process, it plays many roles, such as:
Shallow Groove Isolation (STI)-CMP: After forming a trench on the silicon wafer, the silica film is deposited by chemical vapor deposition, and then the CMP is used to remove the silica film that is not buried in the groove to achieve isolation between components.
Interlayer Dielectric (ILD) - CMP: The planarization of the interlayer insulating film on a wire or component forms the basis for the subsequent multilayer interconnect process.
CMP application in advanced manufacturing process: With the development of chip manufacturing technology, the number of applications of CMP process in the integrated circuit production process has gradually increased. For example, a chip in the 65nm process needs to go through about 12 CMP steps, while the CMP processing required for the 7nm process increases to more than 30 steps.
Metal Inner Dielectric Layer (IMD) - CMP: Forms a flat silicon oxide film that acts as an insulating barrier between modules.
Copper (Cu)-CMP: With the increase in the number of integrated circuit layers, the new connection method "contact window" in the copper wiring process is widely used, and CMP is used in the double Damascus process to polish through-holes and fine copper wires.
Figure: How CMP works (Source: HORIBA)
Market status and competitive landscape
Currently, the global CMP equipment market is highly concentrated, dominated by Applied Materials of United States and Ebara of Japan. However, with the changes in global geopolitics and the relayout of the supply chain, the localization of CMP technology has become the focus of the industry.
The rise of the wave of localization
As one of the world's largest semiconductor markets, China is actively promoting the localization of CMP technology. Driven by the support of national policies and market demand, domestic enterprises such as Huahai Qingke, Dinglong Co., Ltd., and Sanchao New Materials are making breakthroughs in the fields of CMP equipment, polishing pads, and CMP-DISK consumables, which are expected to reduce their dependence on external suppliers.
Technological challenges and opportunities
The localization of CMP technology not only faces technical challenges, but also an important opportunity for domestic enterprises to achieve technological independence. With the rapid development of intelligent driving, AI, 5G and other technologies, the performance requirements for semiconductor devices are constantly improving, and the application prospect of CMP technology is broad. At the same time, with the continuous improvement of the chip manufacturing process, CMP technology is also constantly innovating, bringing new market opportunities to suppliers.
As a key link in semiconductor manufacturing, the market demand for CMP technology continues to grow with the rapid development of the semiconductor industry. Under the dual trend of global semiconductor industry transfer and localization substitution, the localization process of CMP technology can not only enhance the competitiveness of the domestic semiconductor industry, but also bring valuable development opportunities for domestic CMP technology suppliers. With the continuous progress of technology and the in-depth expansion of applications, CMP technology is expected to play a more important role in the semiconductor industry in the future.
