avant

China’s first avant -garde lithography machine is not the biggest US problem. They will be the other two that are on their way

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The semiconductor industry is strategic for great powers. Without exception. Its technological development is closely linked to its ability to manufacture or acquire avant -garde chips, hence the US and its allies are deploying Successive packages of sanctions They pursue stop the technical progress of China. In this situation the country of Xi Jinping only has one option: invest in its chips industry for become independent of foreign technologies. And he is doing it. Two of its largest investments They arrived in 2014 and 2019before the technological war of which we are witnessing was unleashed. In 2014, the Chinese government injected about 19,000 million dollars into its chip industry, and in 2019 this figure increased to touching 27.5 billion dollars. However, these investments pale in front of China at the end of 2023. And it is that just two years ago the government approved An investment of 41,000 million dollars expressly dedicated to manufacturers of lithography equipment. The achievements are beginning to arrive. As we explain yesterdayPulin Technology, one of the many Chinese photolithography machines, has sent one of its clients its first avant -garde team using nano -impression lithography technology (it is known as NIL by its denomination in English Nanoimprint Lithography). On paper this machine will initially produce 5 nm chips, and in the future You can reach the 2 nm. However, this is not all. China has at least two other extraordinarily ambitious and promising projects. Nil lithography is already ready. And the UVE photolithography is on its way NIL lithography is not entirely comparable to the extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE) implemented by the Dutch company ASML in its most advanced machines. Its operating strategy is very lowered by the cost of these equipment, but also entails the execution of several sequential processes that make it slower than UVE and UVP lithography. For this reason, the Pulin team is not the end of the road to China. And all probability during the next months will see other photolithography solutions developed by Chinese companies. In the middle of last March several Asian media collected a photograph taken at the Huawei Research Center in Dongguan, in the province of Canton, in which it appeared The prototype of a UVE lithography team Designed and manufactured entirely in China. Presumably this machine is similar to those produced by ASML, which invites us to anticipate that for 2026 the country led by Xi Jinping will have the ability to produce on a large scale advanced chips using this technology. However, China’s plans do not end here. Greater resolution in practice implies that it is possible to produce semiconductors with more transistors, and, therefore, more sophisticated and powerful And it is that the Chinese Academy of Sciences is finishing the one that is undoubtedly the most ambitious project of those who are developing the Chinese semiconductor industry. According to Dr. Kiman expert in the manufacture of integrated circuits who has worked in Samsung and who currently investigates for TSMC in the US, China is about to reach a “Deepseek” in the field of integrated circuit industry. This simply means that it is preparing to reach a disruption that has the potential to place this Asian country at the same height as the US, Taiwan or South Korea. However, China’s strategy to produce avant -garde chips is very different from what their rivals have used until now. Each of ASML UVE machines incorporates its own ultraviolet light source, but the Chinese Academy of Sciences seeks to generate this important radiation to produce advanced chips using a syncrotronwhich is nothing other than a circular particle accelerator that is used to analyze atomic level the properties of matter, such as various types of materials, or even proteins. It’s called heps (High Energy Photon Source or high -energy photons source), it is in Beijing and we can see it in the cover photography of this article. An important note before moving forward: the ultraviolet light (UV) is responsible for transferring the geometric pattern that contains the design of the chips to the Silicon wafer. This means, in broad strokes, that the UVE light has the ability to make possible the manufacture of integrated circuits with a greater resolution than the deep ultraviolet light (UVP) that use the previous generation lithography machines that China has in their hands. And a greater resolution in practice implies that it is possible to produce semiconductors with more transistors, and, therefore, more sophisticated and powerful. A priori we can think that a particle accelerator has nothing to do with the manufacture of integrated circuits, but we would be overlooking something very important: the Heps syncotron has the ability to produce high power UVE light. In fact, it is a source designed to generate a large amount of radiation. China’s plan is to place several semiconductor manufacturing plants around the particle accelerator to which the syncotron will deliver the UVE light in the same way that a power plant delivers electricity to its customers. That simple. The date on which China plans to start this megaphabric avant -garde semiconductor, but, as we can see in the photograph, is already very advanced, so we can take it for granted, will not be leaked soon. Image | Dr. Kim In Xataka | TSMC acknowledges that it has been considered taking its factories out of Taiwan. It is impossible for a good reason

The US believes to have the definitive solution to prevent its avant -garde chips for China

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Despite the efforts you are making The US government to avoid itthe avant -garde GPU for artificial intelligence (AI) that produce nvidia, AMD or brains They continue to arrive in China. Controlling secondary markets and parallel import routes is extremely difficult, especially when they run through countries such as India, Malaysia or Singapore, in which The US action It is very limited. This is the reason why, According to Bloombergthe US Department of Commerce, which is responsible for regulating exports, is considering starting an unpublished strategy. This measure will consist, if it finally comes to fruition, to introduce the technology necessary to allow them to be tracked at all times. A priori would be a form of geolocation that would identify where each integrated circuit resides during its journey once it leaves the semiconductor factory. This strategy raises technical challenges Michael Kratsios, the director of the Office of Scientific and Technological Policy of the White House and one of those responsible for the US government’s action plan for the development of AI, has confirmed that are considering the possibility of introducing tracking solutions both implemented in the hardware and software itself: “We are discussing what software or physical changes could be introduced into the chips themselves to improve the tracking of their location.” The constant tracking by GPS is not practical in this scenario of use, according to Kratsios himself The US administration is determined to protect its current leadership in the development of hardware for AI as the adoption of this technology accelerates throughout the planet. However, implement the solution proposed by Kratsios and other White House advisors It implies important technical challenges. Constant tracking by GPS is not practical in this scenario of use, According to Kratsios himselfso a possible solution is to introduce in each chip the logic necessary to confirm its location periodically. In this way, external networks can be reduced. The problem is that this design increases the complexity of the logic of each chip and can presumably impact its performance, which would penalize its productivity in the calculation centers. In addition, the cost of each GPU will increase and hackers They could find new ways to violate the safety of these chips by resorting to possible weaknesses of tracking logic. All probability to Nvidia, AMD, Intel and other designers and chips manufacturers for this measure will not like them. They will hardly introduce a logic that will make them more vulnerable and make them more vulnerable. His problem is that so far in this area the US government has adopted a little conciliatory position. And it does not seem that your attitude will change. Image | Nvidia More information | Bloomberg In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

China has already won the nuclear energy career to the US and Russia. And he has done it thanks to a avant -garde reactor

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China’s nuclear program was born in the 50s of the last century. The cold war held by the US and the Soviet Union had incited these two countries to Develop your nuclear arsenal With a shocking speed, and Mao Zedong, the co -founder and leader of the Communist Party of China, decided to ask the Soviet Union for help for launch your own nuclear plan. In 1955 this cooperation allowed China to build its first floor of Uranium-235 and Plutonium productionand also supported the foundation of the National Nuclear Corporation of China (CNC). Only four years later, in 1959, the Soviet Union ended the collaboration with China in nuclear technology. This decision was a very hard setback for the country led by Mao Zedong, who embarked on A career towards self -sufficient in the development of nuclear energy. However, China’s plan prospered very slowly during the next three decades. The first nuclear power plant designed and built entirely by China, the Qinshan plant, was successfully connected to the electricity network on December 15, 1991. At that time China could not rival at all with The development of nuclear technology that had reached the US and the almost extinct Soviet Union. In 2002 China only had two nuclear centrals in operation. Today has no less than 58 nuclear reactors in activity. Only US has more (94). During the last two decades China’s civil and military nuclear program It has advanced with a vertiginous speed, but the most important thing is not the number of reactors that it currently has in operation: the really differential thing is that it has been placed At the forefront in nuclear technology. China leads thanks to its nuclear reactor of molten salts and Torio The TMSR-LF1 reactor officially entered into operation on October 11, 2023. A few months later, on June 17, 2024, he began working at full power. And on October 8 of last year the technicians who operate it detected protacinium-233 (PA-233), a radioactive isotope intermediate derived from the transformation of the thorium into Uranium-233 as part of the fuel cycle of the thorium. This nuclear reactor is in the Minqin industrial complex of the province of Gansu, in northern China. It has a power of 2 thermal megawatts (MWT), and, although it will not be the first Fourth Generation Nuclear Reactor in activity, and neither the first one that Torio will use as fuel, yes It will be the first of molten salts that will use this chemical element. However, the ambition of this Asian country does not end here; It is already planning to build a molten salts and torium reactor of more capacity for 2030, although China is not the only country that bets on this technology. China plans to build a molten salts and torio reactor of more capacity for 2030 The US, France or India are some of those who have also invested in research programs that pursue the development of nuclear reactors capable of generating electricity from the thorium. India’s in particular is interesting because it aims to demonstrate the viability of fuel cycles based on thorium in the context of its advanced heavy water reactor project. This technology is still far from being adopted in a generalized way, but its advantages closely link it to the future of nuclear energy. Our planet brings together approximately 12 million tons of thorium, so this chemical element is three times more abundant In the earth’s cortex that Uranium used as fuel in the current nuclear centrals. The largest deposits reside in China, Brazil, Canada, Australia, USA, Greenland, Russia, Norway, South Africa and Venezuela, although prospects reflect that the country that Torio has is precisely one of the ones that is investing most in the development of reactors capable of using it: India. Another point in your favor is that it is as easy to extract as uranium, but it has the inconvenience that it is not directly physable. It is necessary to introduce it into a reactor that manufactures uranium from Torio, and what it produces is not uranium-235, it is Uranium-233, but the important thing is that it is physable. Once this uranium has occurred, it can be introduced into a conventional reactor like those we have in Spain, which could not work with Torio, but with a derivative of that element. In addition, experts say that molten salts nuclear reactors are safer than reactors installed in the nuclear power plants that are currently in operation. Experts say that molten salts nuclear reactors are safer than reactors installed in the nuclear power plants that are currently in operation Two of the reasons are that they use as a refrigerant lithium fluoride and beryllium at a very low pressure, and the fuel remains dissolved in the form of salt, so it is very unlikely that an accident could trigger the fusion of the reactor’s core. Another quality of these reactors that are worth not overlooking is that Its architecture allows them to be installed undergroundwhich, again, increases your safety. But this is not all. Another peculiar and positive feature of these reactors is that they allow to recharge the fuel while remaining in operation. And, in addition, the fact that they do not need water to maintain the refrigerated nucleus allows them to be installed in regions in which water is scarce, or, simply, in areas where there is no river and are not close to the sea. This is one of the reasons why China is investing in the development of this technology as a means to build fourth generation nuclear power plants in the most remote and arid regions of the country. It is also worth not overlooking that Radioactive waste They generate have a much shorter semi -grid period than that of the residues of the reactors that use uranium, which logically facilitates their management. And, in addition, the folk salts reactors They use less fuel Because the efficiency of the thorium is much higher than … Read more

It cannot guarantee that their avant -garde chips will not arrive in China

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TSMC faces a crossroads. At the current situation of tension between the US and China this Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer, The Major on the Planethe has chosen to develop drastically Your production infrastructure In the country led by Donald Trump. This strategy will allow you dodge future tariffs which presumably will apply to the integrated circuits produced abroad. However, this is not all. In addition, having more manufacturing plants and more advanced packaging centers in the US will allow TSMC to better protect your business if in the future it is triggered A war conflict between China and Taiwan. In these circumstances it is evident that the company led by CC Wei is interested in sustaining an affable relationship with the US. However, their ties are currently committed because of the integrated circuits manufactured by TSMC that are arriving in China. TSMC has been sincere with the US This semiconductor manufacturer is subject to an investigation by the US Department of Commerce Since October 2024. The organization that then led Gina Raimondo suspected that this company could have secretly reached agreements with Huawei to take care of the manufacture of its semiconductors for smartphones and applications of artificial intelligence (AI). In December 2024 TSMC broke its commercial relationship with Powerair, a Singapore company that, apparently, was responsible for delivering to Huawei the chip manufactured by TSMC that appeared on the card for the Ascend 910b. Interestingly, this was the second company presumably responsible for getting to Huawei Integrated circuits produced by TSMC. In 2023 this last company stopped offering its manufacturing service to the Chinese Chips Design Company Sophgo to illegally mediate with Huawei. TSMC could receive a fine of one billion dollars, or even more, from the US Department of Commerce However, their problems did not end here. At the beginning of last March the CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies), An American organization that is dedicated to elaborating strategies that seek to guarantee the security of the US, accused TSMC having manufactured indirectly for Huawei for 2024 no less than two million chips of the Ascend 910. With these integrated circuits this Chinese company could have produced a huge amount of units of its ascend 910c solution, which is currently its hardware for the most advanced. As we explain in early April, TSMC could receive a fine of one billion dollars, or even more, of the Department of Commerce. US regulation establishes that in this context the sanction can ascend twice the value of the transactions that have violated export restrictionswhat could place this fine as one of the highest in history for this type of infraction. TSMC has recently published its last annual report and has not let out the opportunity to explain to the US Administration What is your position in this conflict: “Our role in the semiconductor supply chain inherently limits our visibility and the information we have about the final use or the end user of the products that incorporate chips manufactured by us. This limitation hinders our ability to fully guarantee that the semiconductors we produce are not diverted to an endless use or user avoid controls. ” It is likely that the US responds to this TSMC statement very soon. We will keep you aware of everything. Image | TSMC More information | TSMC In Xataka | The US tariffs are already hurting two of the companies that support Taiwan’s economy: TSMC and Foxconn

China is already unstoppable. It is finishing an ultraviolet light mega -source to make avant -garde chips

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China has been engaged in its own “Manhattan project”. Unlike the plan that executed USA during World War II, it is not dedicated to the creation of nuclear weapons (China has them since the mid -60s of the last century); It seeks to put in the hands of Chinese companies the ability to MANUFACTE INTEGRATED VANGUARD CIRCUITS comparable to the most advanced currently produced in Taiwan, USA, South Korea or Japan. The sanctions that have deployed US governments and the Netherlands They prevent the Dutch company Asml extreme ultraviolet (UVE). Without them Chips Chinese, such as SMIC (Semiconductor manufacturing international corp), Hua Hong Semiconductor, China Resources Microelectronics or Guangzhou Zensemi cannot produce integrated circuits comparable to those who are already manufacturing TSMC, Intel or Samsung. China needs to have Your own UVE photolithography teams as soon as possible. Its economy, and, above all, its technical and scientific development are at stake. The problem is that developing this machine is very complex. In fact, Asml took more than two decades put it up. And he had the economic support of his best clients (TSMC, Intel and Samsung), as well as the collaboration of several owners of avant -garde technologies, such as the German Zeiss, which manufactures the optical elements of the lithography machines, or the US company of American origin, which produces the ultraviolet light source. China is finishing a gigantic syncrotron that will produce UVE light In the middle of last March several Asian media collected a photograph taken at the Huawei Research Center in Dongguan, in the province of Canton, in which it appeared The prototype of a UVE lithography team Designed and manufactured entirely in China. Presumably this machine is similar to those produced by ASML, which invites us to anticipate that for 2026 the country led by Xi Jinping will have the ability to produce advanced chips on a large scale. However, China’s plans do not end here. And it is that the Chinese Academy of Sciences is finishing the one that is undoubtedly the most ambitious project of those who are developing the Chinese semiconductor industry. According to Dr. Kiman expert in the manufacture of integrated circuits who has worked in Samsung and that He currently investigates for TSMC in the USChina is about to reach a “Deepseek” in the field of integrated circuit industry. This simply means that it is preparing to reach a disruption that has the potential to place this Asian country at the same height as the US, Taiwan or South Korea. UVE light has the ability to make the manufacture of integrated circuits with a higher resolution than UVP light However, China’s strategy to produce avant -garde chips is very different from what their rivals have used until now. As we have seen, each of the ASML UVE machines incorporates its own ultraviolet light source, but the Chinese Academy of Sciences seeks to generate this important radiation to produce advanced chips using a syncrotron, which is nothing other than a circular particle accelerator that is used to analyze atomic level the properties of matter, such as various types of materials, or, even, even, of proteins. It’s called heps (High Energy Photon Source or high -energy photons source), it is in Beijing and we can see it in the cover photography of this article. An important note before moving forward: the ultraviolet light (UV) is responsible for transferring the geometric pattern that contains the design of the chips to the Silicon wafer. This means, in broad strokes, that UVE light has the ability to make possible the manufacture of Integrated circuits with a higher resolution that the light of deep ultraviolet (UVP) that use the previous generation lithography machines that China has in their hands. And a greater resolution in practice implies that it is possible to produce semiconductors with more transistors, and, therefore, more sophisticated and powerful. A priori we can think that a particle accelerator has nothing to do with the manufacture of integrated circuits, but we would be overlooking something very important: the Heps syncrotron has the ability to produce high power UVE light. In fact, it is a source designed to generate a large amount of radiation. China’s plan is to place several semiconductor manufacturing plants around particles to which The syncrotron will deliver the UVE light in the same way that a power plant delivers electricity to its customers. That simple. The date on which China plans to start this megaphabrum of avant -garde semiconductors has not yet leaked, but as we can see in photography, it is already very advanced, so we can take it for granted that it will enter into production soon. Image | Dr. Kim More information | Dr. Kim In Xataka | TSMC acknowledges that it has been considered taking its factories out of Taiwan. It is impossible for a good reason

The authentic responsible for China can make avant -garde chips is an almost unknown company: Sicarrier

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During the last year and a half Huawei and SMIC have monopolized much of attention in the scope of the semiconductor industry. These two Chinese companies have worked together to develop the technology they needed to produce integrated 7 nm circuits using equipment deep ultraviolet lithography (UVP) that produces ASML. SANCTIONS TO CHINA from the United States and the Netherlands prevent this Dutch company from selling their most advanced machines to their Chinese clients, so none of them have access to their equipment extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE). The latter are adequate to manufacture 7 Nm chips on a large more advanced integration technologies. Nevertheless, Huawei and SMIC have managed to produce them using UVP equipment thanks to a technique known as Multiple patterning. Broadly this technology consists in transferring the pattern to the wafer in several passes with the purpose of increasing the resolution of the lithographic process. His problem is that he usually has an upward impact on the cost of chips and the decline in production capacity, although it works. Sicarrier is the Chinese company backed by the government behind this milestone During the last days several Asian media, such as SCMP either Nikkei Asiathey are giving visibility to a Chinese manufacturer of practically unknown lithography equipment that aspires to be the protagonist of Semicon China. This fair is dedicated to the semiconductor industry and will be held this week in Shanghai (China). A priori is surprising that Sicarrierwhich is what this company is called, it is attracting so much attention, but if we investigate a bit we will discover what makes it so special. The technology used by Huawei and SMIC to manufacture 7 Nm integrated circuits derives from a sicarrier patent The first reason is that it is a company that, according to the media that I have mentioned in the previous paragraph, is closely linked to Huawei, although its ties are not entirely clear. What we do know is that it has the economic support of the Shenzhen administration. And, what is more important, than the technology used by Huawei and SMIC to manufacture 7 Nm integrated circuits derives from a patent from sicarrier which seeks to make possible the production of 5 Nm chips using UVP lithography equipment. Although it was founded in 2021, during the last four years Sicarrier has maintained a very low profile. And there is no doubt that it is an express choice of its directive dome. Gives the feeling that the Chinese government wanted to happen as unnoticed as possible, and makes sense to be so if we are in mind that, according to Nikkei AsiaSicarrier’s goal is to compete with the manufacturers of lithography equipment that lead the market, among which are the Dutch company ASMLthe Japanese Tokyo Electron or the American Apply materials. It will be interesting to check this same week if the teams that will be released in Semicon China are up to expectations. Image | Sicarrier More information | SCMP | Nikkei Asia In Xataka | This is China’s big problem with chips: Huawei will manufacture its Kirin X90 for PC using the 7 Nm of SMIC

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