Chinese semiconductor equipment company AMEC unveiled six new chip-manufacturing machines in a single day, at an industry conference held earlier this month in the Chinese city of Wuxi.
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The launch marks a clear expansion for the company beyond its traditional core business of chip etching equipment.
The new equipment covers several key stages of semiconductor manufacturing, including etching machines, deposition systems, and equipment specifically for producing silicon-carbide power chips.
Of the six new products, four are dedicated to deposition processes, reflecting a clear push by the company to significantly broaden its portfolio.
Why Etching and Deposition Matter
Understanding the deposition and etching processes helps clarify the significance of this expansion.
Deposition systems add extremely thin layers of material onto silicon wafers. These layers can be conductive, insulating, or made of semiconductor materials, and may be no more than a few nanometers thick.
Etching equipment, by contrast, does roughly the opposite: it removes specific portions of material to form the precise patterns required on the chip.
Modern chips require these processes to be repeated many times during manufacturing. In some cases, a single wafer goes through hundreds of different processing steps, involving repeated cycles of deposition, pattern formation, and etching.
Since AMEC built its business primarily around etching equipment, its expansion into deposition marks an important step in its growth strategy.
Equipment for Silicon-Carbide Chips
The company also unveiled equipment for producing semiconductors made from silicon carbide, known as SiC.
Silicon carbide is becoming increasingly important in modern power electronics, as it can operate at higher voltages and temperatures than conventional silicon, while also achieving lower energy loss in many applications. For this reason, silicon carbide has become an important choice in electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure.
That said, the six new pieces of equipment are still at different stages of development and commercialization, meaning some have not yet reached widespread use in factories.
Moving from the development stage to commercial use requires extensive testing and customer certification, as chip manufacturers impose very strict standards regarding precision, reproducibility of results, and equipment reliability.
Part of China's Broader Chip Strategy
The announcement comes as part of China's broader strategy to increase reliance on domestically produced chip-manufacturing equipment.
Chinese semiconductor manufacturers still depend on foreign suppliers for a number of core equipment categories, at a time when restrictions imposed by the United States and its allies limit China's access to certain advanced technologies. These restrictions have increased pressure on Chinese companies to develop domestic alternatives.
For AMEC, the announcement isn't just about launching six new machines, it signals the company's gradual shift from a supplier specialized in one narrow area to a company offering a broader range of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The company ultimately aims to meet a larger share of the needs of China's chip factories.
Resource: Al-Ghad.
