The lithography gas industry welcomes development opportunities and the localization process of the Chinese market accelerates

Lithography gas, also known as electron gas for lithography and laser gas, refers to the gas used to generate the light source of lithography machines. The types of lithography gases are usually divided according to the wavelength of the light source of the lithography machine, and have broad application prospects in the field of semiconductor manufacturing. Benefiting from the growing market demand, the development trend of my country’s photolithography gas industry continues to improve.

In recent years, the state has attached great importance to the development of the electronic special gas industry and introduced many policies to support it. In December 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the “Guidance Catalog for the First Batch Application Demonstration of Key New Materials (2021 Edition)”. The document clearly includes ultra-high purity argon and other special gases into the catalog of new electronic chemical materials. In this context, photolithography gas, as a representative product of electronic specialty gas, has further improved its industry prosperity.

Photolithography gases are mostly mixed gases, and there are many types of them. Common types include argon/xenon/neon mixed gas, krypton/neon mixed gas, argon/neon mixed gas, and argon/fluorine/neon mixed gas. Neon is the main component of photolithography gas, accounting for nearly 90% of its production cost. my country is one of the world’s major producers of neon. In 2021, my country’s neon production reached nearly 500,000 tons, accounting for nearly 50% of the world’s total production. In the future, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to prolong and neon purification technology continues to make breakthroughs, my country’s neon production will further grow, which will lay a good foundation for the development of the lithography gas industry.

According to the “2023-2028 China Lithography Gas Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center, Photolithography gas can be used to generate the light source of the photolithography machine and is the main component of the photolithography machine. The photolithography machine industry has extremely high technical barriers and is the core equipment for wafer manufacturing. Benefiting from national policy support and the improvement of independent research and development capabilities of local companies, my country’s large-size wafer market share has further increased. It is expected that by 2026, my country’s 12-inch wafer production capacity will reach 2.4 million pieces. As downstream demand continues to grow, my country’s photolithography gas industry is expected to usher in development opportunities.

In the early stages of industry development, due to factors such as high technical barriers and high production costs, my country’s demand for photolithography gases was completely dependent on imports. Praxair of the United States, Linde Group of Germany, and Air Liquide of France were my country’s main suppliers. In recent years, with the continued efforts of local companies, the localization process of my country’s photolithography gas market has accelerated. Kemet Gas and Walter Gas are the main manufacturers of photolithography gases in my country. Among them, the photolithography gas independently developed by Walter Gas has been certified by the Japanese GIGAPHOTON company and the Dutch ASML company.

Industry analysts said that with the continuous improvement of technology level, my country’s large-size wafer production capacity continues to expand, driving the market demand for lithography gas increasingly prosperous. Benefiting from the continued efforts of local companies, the localization process of my country’s photolithography gas market has accelerated. In the future, with the support of national policies and the rapid development of downstream industries, my country’s photolithography gas market space will be further expanded.