The semiconductor industry follows the industrial law of "one generation of technology, one generation of process, one generation of equipment." The performance, quality, and precision of components directly determine the reliability and stability of equipment, which in turn affects the technological level of semiconductor manufacturing.
Generally speaking, expenditures on equipment components account for 50% to 80% of the value of the equipment, with key components taking up a very high share. Taking etching equipment as an example, ten major types of key components account for about 85% of the total expenditure on equipment components. It is evident that core component technology is the foundation for the survival and development of the semiconductor equipment industry.
Among components made of various materials, precision ceramics are the most representative precision components in the semiconductor industry, playing a critical role in both front-end and back-end processes.
In front-end equipment, precision ceramics are mainly used in etching, thin-film deposition, ion implantation, lithography, oxidation diffusion, and other process equipment. Precision ceramic components are among the types of components placed closest to the wafer in semiconductor manufacturing. Most precision ceramic components used in semiconductor equipment are located inside the process chamber, and some of them come into direct contact with the wafer.
For example, in advanced lithography machines, to achieve high process precision, ceramic components with good functional composite properties, structural stability, thermal stability, and dimensional accuracy are widely used. These include E-chucks, vacuum chucks, blocks, magnetic steel frame water-cooled plates, reflectors, guide rails, etc. Such key components are typically made of precision ceramic materials.
In etching equipment, ceramic materials generally offer good physical and chemical corrosion resistance as well as high operating temperatures. Hence, they are widely used in viewports, gas distribution plates, nozzles, insulating rings, cover plates, focus rings, and electrostatic chucks.
In back-end processes, precision ceramics are widely used in wafer thinning, dicing, bonding, and other steps. According to relevant experts, precision ceramics account for 10% to 16% of semiconductor equipment costs.
In summary, precision ceramics, as a key upstream material in the semiconductor industry, are exceptionally important to the development of the semiconductor sector.
Driven by the global wave of AI technological revolution, the semiconductor industry is undergoing unprecedented upgrades and expansion. Driven by demand transmission, the demand for semiconductor equipment and its core components continues to rise. Among them, precision ceramic components will significantly benefit from this macro trend, showing an overall "steady growth" trajectory.
It should be emphasized:
The arms race in AI computing power directly translates into an extreme pursuit of advanced semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. Training and running large models require massive amounts of high-performance AI chips, which strongly drives huge capital expenditures in advanced logic processes (e.g., 2nm, 3nm) and advanced packaging technologies (e.g., CoWoS, HBM). To increase capacity and improve process levels, wafer fabs must purchase more advanced core equipment such as lithography, etching, and thin-film deposition tools.
As precision ceramics are key components that determine equipment reliability and stability, more advanced semiconductor equipment demands higher performance from precision ceramic components, such as stricter purity, precision, and reliability.
Therefore, amid the AI wave, the demand for precision ceramics will grow steadily, especially high-end precision ceramic components, which will become in short supply.
AI is the high ground in global technology competition, and semiconductor equipment and its core components have become strategic control resources. High-end precision ceramics, as core components of key equipment such as lithography, etching, and deposition tools, directly determine whether China's AI computing power infrastructure can achieve autonomy and control. In the event of an external supply cut-off, the impact would not be limited to a few pieces of equipment but would affect the entire nation's development process in the AI era. Therefore, substitution is never a matter of "cost optimization" but an imperative to ensure the "development sovereignty" of AI technology.
The current reality is that in the field of precision ceramics for high-end semiconductor equipment, the localization rate remains low. Key categories such as electrostatic chucks and ceramic heaters are heavily dependent on imports, creating a major bottleneck for industrial chain security. Driven by macro policies supporting supply chain autonomy, the rapid expansion of the AI market, and the strategic push from downstream domestic equipment manufacturers to actively import localized components to optimize supply chains, the urgency and window of opportunity for import substitution of high-end precision ceramics for semiconductor equipment are now clearly defined.