China's semiconductor equipment industry enters the deep water phase

As the global semiconductor industry enters the post-Moore’s Law era, as demand for AI computing power surges exponentially, and as U.S. export controls on semiconductors to China continue to tighten, China’s semiconductor equipment industry stands at a historic turning point.

Over the past decade, we have witnessed domestic equipment make the leap from research and development to mass production; over the next five years, it will be determined whether domestic equipment can enter advanced production lines, support logic chips manufactured with advanced processes, meet the stacking demands of HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), and achieve true autonomy in the most vulnerable areas.

From August 31 to September 2, 2026, the 14th China Semiconductor Equipment, Materials, and Core Components Exhibition (CSEAC 2026) opened at the Wuxi Taihu International Expo Center. This major industry event offered a rare opportunity to observe the domestic semiconductor equipment supply chain. From process equipment to inspection and measurement equipment, and advanced packaging equipment, we visited multiple companies in an effort to answer one key question: How far has China’s domestic semiconductor equipment industry come?

Domestically produced process equipment has achieved breakthroughs in major categories. In the largest market segments, such as lithography, etching, and thin-film deposition, platform leaders like Zhongwei Company and North Hua Chuang have emerged, each leading domestically and ranking among the top globally in their respective niches.

As the undisputed leader in domestic etching equipment, Zhongwei Company has significantly accelerated its platform strategy in recent years. During this year’s CSEAC, Zhongwei announced the launch of several newly developed, high-end microfabrication tools, including the Primo XD-RIE70 to 90:1 ultra-high aspect ratio etching system and the Performo QuaStar series. EC VD (including Performo QuaStar ON and Performo QuaStar GE), Prefima UnicoreAM atomic layer deposition equipment for molybdenum metal, Preforma Uniflash metal silicide integration system, and PRISMO PDS8 silicon carbide power device mass-production HTCVD. This follows the launch of four new products in March this year, marking another high-density unveiling of new products by AMEC within six months, achieving comprehensive coverage across core processes including advanced logic fabrication, power semiconductor manufacturing, thin-film deposition, and precision etching, thereby completing its end-to-end process equipment solutions for multiple scenarios. To date, AMEC has accumulated over 8,800 reaction chambers in full-scale mass production across more than 170 customers worldwide on over 220 semiconductor and LED production lines, and has established R&D and manufacturing bases in five regions.

Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment showcased its front-end KrF dry lithography machine, I-line scanning projection lithography machine, and related core subsystem products. Its I-line scanning projection lithography machine uses a 365nm wavelength light source with a resolution of 280nm; the KrF scanning projection lithography machine uses a 248nm wavelength light source with a resolution of 110nm. According to available information, the cumulative production volume for Shanghai Micro Electronics’ lithography equipment customers exceeds 10 million wafers.

However, the domestication of semiconductor equipment has never been an easy task. When we shift our focus away from the largest market-sized equipment, we encounter another deep-water area: high-technology, relatively niche equipment that has become a tough challenge domestic manufacturers must overcome—ion implanters being the most representative example.

Previously, major domestic players included Zhongke Xin and Kaishitong, but in recent years, numerous companies have entered this sector. As a benchmark for domestic equipment platformization, North Huachuang has established the most comprehensive semiconductor equipment product portfolio in China, covering etching, thin-film deposition, cleaning, and thermal processing. At this exhibition, North Huachuang showcased a range of solutions, including plasma immersion ion implanters and medium-current ion implanters. Jingcheng Machinery has also expanded into front-end equipment, including an ion implanter currently under development. It is understood that Jingcheng Machinery’s silicon medium-current ion implanter is currently undergoing validation with downstream customers.

After advancing the transformation and upgrading of its ALD business, Sirena Intelligence has recently expanded into ion implantation equipment and achieved breakthroughs. At the exhibition, Sirena Intelligence showcased its SR11 HEI high-energy ion implantation machine series, SR11 HCI high-current ion implantation machine series, SRII MCI medium-current ion implantation machine, SRII H hydrogen ion implantation machine, and silicon carbide ion implantation machine series. According to the company, its current shipments are primarily focused on high-energy and high-current ion implantation machines, while its silicon carbide ion implantation machines are currently in the validation phase.

In addition to these traditional semiconductor equipment manufacturers, new companies fully focused on ion implanters have emerged. AIN Semiconductor showcased its Ai-250, Ai-300, Ai-80HC, and Ai-200HC.D product series at this year’s CSEAC, establishing a comprehensive portfolio of ion implantation equipment covering medium-current, high-current, high-energy, and specialty applications, serving both silicon-based and silicon carbide process technologies. Its high-temperature silicon carbide ion implanter has already achieved mass production and delivery. According to AIN Semiconductor, the overall domestic production rate of ion implanters in China is currently below 15%, with the domestic production rate of high-current models under 10%, and high-energy models virtually nonexistent. Moreover, the world’s most advanced ion implanters are now prohibited from export to China, and even second-hand equipment cannot be procured; domestic wafer fabs are thus limited to using outdated models, severely impacting yield and stability. Although more companies have entered this field in recent years, the number of domestic players capable of offering mature products remains limited, with most still in early validation stages and only a few achieving mass production and delivery. More critically, nearly all domestic ion implanter manufacturers have yet to achieve profitability and are generally in a phase of high R&D investment.

The deep water area is deep not only because of its small market size, but also due to the non-transferability of its technological pathways. Etching and thin-film deposition equipment share core technological foundations such as plasma physics, vacuum chambers, and RF power; experience gained by a company in etching can be leveraged for deposition equipment. However, ion implanters are entirely different—their core technologies involve ion optics, electromagnetic mass analysis, and high-voltage acceleration, making them more akin to particle accelerators than traditional semiconductor process equipment. Experience accumulated in etching can hardly be transferred to ion implanters.

Several years ago, data showed that the domestic production rate of front-end metrology and inspection equipment in China was less than 10%, the lowest among all semiconductor equipment categories. Although metrology and inspection equipment does not directly produce chips, it determines whether a wafer is a合格 product or scrap. In nanometer-scale processes, even the slightest defect, film thickness deviation, or loss of control over critical dimensions (CD) can lead to the entire wafer batch being discarded. Therefore, wafer fabs have extremely high trust requirements for metrology and inspection equipment. However, this exhibition revealed another side: in recent years, domestically produced metrology and inspection equipment has gradually caught up with, and in some cases reached, international advanced levels, achieving mass production and delivery.

As China’s first company to achieve a platform-based layout in the metrology and inspection field, Zhongke Feice has independently developed a series of products, including brightfield nanoscale patterned wafer defect inspection equipment, darkfield nanoscale patterned wafer defect inspection equipment, patternless wafer defect inspection equipment, 3D topography metrology equipment, wafer dielectric film metrology equipment, overlay metrology equipment, wafer metal film metrology equipment, and critical dimension metrology equipment. In the broader semiconductor and industrial inspection sectors, the company has also introduced OLED panel defect inspection equipment and 3D curved glass metrology equipment. According to the company, these products have been successfully adopted by multiple leading domestic integrated circuit manufacturers, with the types of equipment already in mass production or under validation accounting for over 70% of the total quality control equipment market. Staff reported that the cumulative delivery volume of the full product lineup has reached approximately 1,500 units, demonstrating mature mass production and delivery capabilities. The performance of these products has been long-validated by top-tier wafer fabs, with high-market-share replacements achieved for advanced brightfield and darkfield equipment across four major fabs; some new production lines have bypassed KLA equipment entirely and directly adopted Feice’s solutions.

Yuwei Semiconductor showcased its product offerings across four key areas: mask substrate manufacturing, mask plate manufacturing, chip manufacturing, and advanced packaging. According to the company, its inspection equipment related to masks has made the fastest progress, with some devices reaching international leading standards and capable of full replacement; these devices have already been adopted by China’s top semiconductor wafer manufacturers.

Dongfang Jingyuan showcased electron beam metrology and inspection equipment, including CD-SEM (critical dimension scanning electron microscope), HV-SEM (high-voltage electron beam equipment), EBI (electron beam inspection equipment), and DR-SEM (electron beam defect review equipment). The EBI equipment is suitable for logic processes at 28nm and above and 3D NAND processes with 200 layers or more, featuring a detection beam current of 100 nA class and deep learning-based automated defect classification algorithms. The HV-SEM is applicable to logic processes at 14nm and below, 3D NAND processes with 200 layers or more, and advanced-node DRAM processes, with a landing energy of up to 45 keV. The CD-SEM achieves a measurement repeatability of 0.15 nm and equipment uniformity of 0.1 nm.

In addition to these mainstream detection devices, domestic detection equipment has also achieved breakthroughs in some emerging or niche technology areas, which, although small in market size, are critically important.

Gaze Technology showcased its IR300 wafer epitaxial layer thickness measurement device, AP300 film thickness meter, ID300 wafer internal stress detection equipment, and other products. The IR300 employs Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) technology to calculate film thickness by analyzing interference signals. According to the company, domestic production of such equipment began in 2023; previously, the domestic market was dominated by overseas brands such as Onto and Semilab, but major Chinese large-silicon-wafer manufacturers have now largely transitioned to using Gaze’s products.

Weichong Semiconductor showcased its second-harmonic wafer inspection equipment, the ASPIRER series; thermal wave measurement equipment, the BRAVERY series; and ultrasonic scanning microscopy equipment, the CLARITY series. Among these, the second-harmonic inspection equipment operates on the principle of laser excitation and is used to detect electrical defects at interfaces and layers, surface charges, lattice properties, and crystal quality, applicable to unpatterned wafers after various process steps including thin-film deposition, epitaxy, etching, diffusion, cleaning, and CMP. According to the company, conventional bright-field/dark-field and electron-beam inspection methods can only observe the wafer surface and cannot capture internal interface information, with no other mature alternative inspection solutions currently available. Moreover, during second-harmonic inspection, the temperature rise at the excitation point is only 2–3°C, causing no additional damage to the wafer substrate. Weichong Semiconductor noted that traditional optical inspection domains such as film thickness measurement and bright-field/dark-field inspection are already highly saturated and intensely competitive; therefore, the team chose not to enter these markets. Instead, they introduced the principle of second-harmonic detection into the field of semiconductor metrology and inspection.

Although domestic inspection equipment has historically lagged significantly behind overseas counterparts, recent years have seen a marked acceleration in industry-wide technological progress, driven by downstream customers opening up their validation processes and moving away from isolated development. More importantly, domestic inspection equipment has seen a surge in diversity, with breakthroughs not only in major equipment but also in niche, specialized, and emerging segments. However, industry professionals note that when leading wafer fabs procure new equipment, they still retain imported tools as a benchmark, requiring product validation through match comparisons with equivalent overseas machines—verifying the performance of domestic equipment by replicating the inspection results of their foreign counterparts.

In the past, packaging held a relatively minor position in the semiconductor supply chain, merely enclosing pre-manufactured chips and connecting them with wires—offering low technical complexity and limited value addition. However, this has been completely overturned in the AI era. In the post-Moore era, advanced packaging has become a critical pathway for sustaining computing power growth. Packaging is no longer just about enclosing chips; it now directly determines chip performance, power consumption, and cost. Bonding equipment is at the heart of advanced packaging. Classified by bonding targets, it primarily consists of two types: W2W (wafer-to-wafer) and D2W (die-to-wafer).

Qinghe Crystal specializes in wafer bonding equipment and showcases products such as ultra-high vacuum ambient temperature bonding equipment, hydrophilic/W2W hybrid bonding equipment, thermal compression anodic bonding equipment, and C2W/CWW hybrid bonding equipment. Among these, the ultra-high vacuum ambient temperature bonding equipment uses ultra-high vacuum ion beam bombardment to activate material surfaces, enabling strong chemical bonds without the need for heating or annealing.

Jingke Technology introduced the Dione 300 wafer hybrid bonding equipment and the Pleione 300 HS chip-to-wafer fusion bonding equipment. The Dione 300 is a wafer-to-wafer (W2W) hybrid bonding tool designed for advanced 3D heterogeneous integration processes. The Pleione 300 HS fusion bonding equipment enables direct bonding at room temperature without the need for bonding media or adhesives, and supports the use of known-good chips, significantly improving yield.

Xinhui Lianxin is another major player in the hybrid bonding equipment field, showcasing its CANOPUS series W2W hybrid bonding equipment and SIRIUS series D2W hybrid bonding equipment. Xinhui Lianxin noted that, currently, only it and one other domestic manufacturer have shipped D2W equipment. Additionally, Xinhui Lianxin exhibited related metrology and inspection equipment. Staff explained that, due to the need for repeated parameter validation during hybrid bonding equipment development, external equipment cannot pinpoint the source of issues; therefore, the company developed its own配套 metrology and bond strength inspection equipment.

StarTech Equipment presents a wafer-level large-chip photolithography and bonding system integration solution. The ICB series D2D/D2W bonding equipment achieves a post-bonding accuracy of ±0.3 μm, the iHC 3000 D2W hybrid bonding equipment achieves a post-bonding accuracy of ±0.1 μm, and the IAB series W2W bonding equipment achieves a post-bonding accuracy of ±2 μm.

However, industry professionals also note that the W2W process has long been mature, and the real challenge lies in D2W. In fact, as early as 2008, W2W fusion bonding was first applied to CMOS image sensor products, enabling the vertical exchange of photodiodes and metal layers to reduce signal reflection and crosstalk. In 2017, Sony introduced a three-layer stacked CIS; in 2018, Yangtze Memory Technologies launched its 3D NAND; in 2019, IM EC Backside power delivery technology has successively been implemented using bonding processes. In 2022, wafer-level bonding technology for MicroLED was commercialized; in 2023, Samsung incorporated hybrid bonding into its HBM4 roadmap; and in 2024, it launched a vertically stacked VCT DRAM architecture. On the other hand, D2W hybrid bonding equipment is currently dominated by the Netherlands-based BESI, and globally, only TSMC possesses mass production capability for D2W processes. Although domestic manufacturers have introduced prototype machines, nearly all remain in the validation phase and lack mature products ready for mass production. The difficulty of D2W lies not only in the equipment itself but also in the absence of an industrial ecosystem. First, there is insufficient downstream demand: there are currently no domestic customers implementing D2W at scale, so downstream users cannot define specific process parameter requirements. Second, validation resources are scarce: leading wafer fabs have limited R&D capacity and high-value wafer materials, making it difficult for new entrants to secure sufficient production-line validation opportunities. Third, cross-stage collaboration presents high barriers: hybrid bonding is not merely an equipment issue but requires integration with upstream processes such as lithography compensation, constituting a cross-stage systems engineering challenge. Overseas hybrid bonding manufacturers all adopt cross-company collaboration models to integrate complementary modules across the value chain, with no single entity independently completing the entire process.

In addition to the vigorous domestication of semiconductor equipment, the localization of core components is also accelerating.

As semiconductor advanced processes continue to evolve, high-end precision equipment demands higher standards for operational stability, nanometer-level positioning accuracy, and micro-vibration suppression. Upgrading individual components alone can no longer meet the complex requirements of modern precision manufacturing. Previously, these core components were primarily monopolized by foreign manufacturers. Grano Precision has now launched its first two air-bearing active vibration isolation products, the SFE300B and SFL300A, achieving the first domestic breakthrough in this field. Additionally, Grano Precision has developed a high-precision motion control system. According to the company, the core performance of this product series is nearly identical to that of ACS, a leading overseas manufacturer, enabling direct replacement; future improvements will focus solely on iterative enhancements to functional modules.

After touring the CSEAC 2026 exhibition hall, one clear takeaway is that China’s semiconductor equipment industry is transitioning from key breakthroughs to building a comprehensive ecosystem. As this ecosystem becomes increasingly mature, domestic equipment localization is entering deeper waters, with new players entering fields that were previously overlooked or entirely untouched. A decade ago, we were anxious about whether we could even develop domestic etching and cleaning equipment; today, we’re discussing whether we have full-chain equipment solutions—marking a qualitative transformation in the industry’s ecosystem.

But significant challenges in the deep water are now evident: the technological silos of ion implanters, the production gap in D2W bonding, the trust barrier for inspection and measurement equipment... These cannot be solved by isolated breakthroughs; they require coordinated validation across the upstream and downstream supply chain, as well as sustained, high-intensity R&D investment. After all, the easy parts have already been done—what remains are the tough problems.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Semiconductor Industry纵横" (ID: ICViews), author: Pengcheng.