Huawei to develop lithography tech at new R&D centre
Chinese tech giant Huawei is reported to be building a new research unit in Shanghai. It wants to develop chipmaking tools that could eventually rival those of ASML, Canon, and Nikon.
A story in Nikkei says Huawei is responding to restrictions on its ability to acquire litho machines, which are essential for manufacturing advanced node chips. At present, the Chinaese fabs that Huawei works with – SMIC and Hua Hong – are limited to importing only 28nm-capable lithography systems.
The report says this new R&D centre is located in the Qingpu district of Shanghai, and is part of the site that comprises Huawei's chip design unit, HiSilicon T. It adds that Huawei's R&D spending reached a record USD 22.756 billion in 2023.
Huawei was, in a sense, 'patient zero' in the US's decision to start a chip embargo on Chinese firms. The tech giant, which makes 5G infrastructure equipment as well as consumer products, previously worked with major contract chipmakers, such as TSMC and GlobalFoundries. But following sanctions it shifted to SMIC and other compatriot firms.
This new story is actually just the latest speculation about Huawei and lithographic tech. Last month, Bloomberg reported that the firm filed patents for a self-aligned quadruple patterning (SAQP) technique. This enables the patterning of transistors on to silicon wafers, which is normally performed by EUV.
And prior to that it was reported that SMIC was making progress towards 5nm chip tech.
