China’s DUV Chipmaking Advances Face Rising Cost and Yield Limits
Chinese chipmakers are using multiple exposures with DUV lithography to produce advanced logic without ASML’s restricted EUV systems, as seen in teardowns of Huawei’s Kirin 9000S and Kirin 9030. Experts cited by Tom’s Hardware say additional masks increase overlay risks, manufacturing time, die size and cost, while SMIC’s reported N+3 process remains less scaled than established 5nm processes from TSMC and Samsung. Morgan Stanley estimated that CXMT produces about one-third as many bits per wafer as Western competitors, though the report also cites Micron’s success with tightly controlled DUV multiple patterning for DRAM.
The analysis documents the cost, yield and density constraints behind China’s progress in advanced chip production without EUV, which is relevant to advanced-processor and AI-chip supply.
Export controls have kept ASML's most advanced EUV lithography machines out of China. Instead, the country's chipmaking industry has relied on less-capable deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines. By using multiple exposures on critical chip layers, these older machines are still capable of producing performant silicon. However, as multiple patterns are applied there are more chances for defects, longer manufacturing times, and higher bills. We spoke to experts like Chris Mack, co-founder and CTO of semiconductor firm Fractilia, to find out how much further DUV can go.
For years, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography has been seen as China’s biggest choke point in the country’s attempts to build cutting-edge chips. The machines, made exclusively by Dutch manufacturer ASML, use 13.5nm-wavelength light to print some of the most intricate features found on modern processors. Sales of ASML’s EUV systems are subject to export restrictions, forcing Chinese manufacturers to squeeze ever more out of older deep ultraviolet, or DUV, lithography instead. The EUV gap alone between China and the West is at least half a decade, according to some analysts.
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