In recent years, the United States has been increasingly suppressing domestic semiconductor companies, not only prohibiting wafer foundries using American technology from providing production and manufacturing services to Chinese manufacturers, but also restricting advanced semiconductor equipment manufacturers from providing equipment to domestic enterprises. As a top domestic university in science and engineering, Huahai Qingke, a research and development company led by Professor Lu Xinchun from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tsinghua University, has recently launched the first 12 inch (300mm) ultra precision wafer thinning machine (Versatile-GP300) and sent it to a leading integrated circuit enterprise in China. This equipment is another breakthrough achievement by Professor Lu Xinchun's team and Huahai Qingke Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huahai Qingke") after solving the "bottleneck" problem of China's circuit polishing equipment. It will be applied to large-scale chip manufacturing lines such as 3D IC manufacturing and advanced packaging, meeting the requirements of 12 inch wafer ultra precision thinning process.

(Image from: Tsinghua University News Network, the same below)

The 12 inch ultra precision wafer thinning machine is an essential key equipment for integrated circuit manufacturing. The equipment is highly complex, technically difficult to tackle, and has a high market access threshold. It has long been highly monopolized by foreign manufacturers, and the domestic market in China heavily relies on imports.

In order to break through the technological bottleneck in the field of thinning equipment, Professor Lu Xinchun led Huahai Qingke to utilize its industrialization experience in the chemical mechanical polishing field to overcome the core technologies of ultra precision grinding of wafer backside, intelligent control of flatness, surface damage and defect control, and developed the first ultra precision wafer thinning machine for 12 inch 3D IC manufacturing, advanced packaging and other fields, solving the "bottleneck" problem in this field.

Facing the development layout of the national integrated circuit industry, Professor Lu Xinchun's team has been conducting basic research on chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) since 2000, undertaking more than ten major national scientific and technological research tasks, successfully incubating Huahai Qingke and developing China's first 12 inch "dry in dry out" CMP equipment and series products. The overall technology has reached the international advanced level, achieving mass production of 28nm process and possessing the ability to expand 14-7nm process, creating multiple domestic equipment records.

More than 110 units have been applied in advanced integrated circuit manufacturing production lines, with market share and import substitution rate ranking among the top in domestic IC equipment. The series of achievements have filled the domestic gap, broken the monopoly of international giants, and achieved the mass industrial application of domestic polishing equipment for the first time.

Professor Lu Xinchun's team believes that universities should make great achievements in solving the current bottleneck problem of key core technologies, and take it as their responsibility to serve the country through industry. They should actively promote the transformation of scientific research achievements, achieve vertical connection between basic research and industrial demand, and incubate Huahai Qingke Co., Ltd., which is currently the only high-end semiconductor equipment manufacturer in China with 12 inch CMP commercial models.

(Huahai Qingke: Tsinghua University Chemical Mechanical Polishing and Thinning Equipment Technology Industrialization Base)