China Closes Critical Chipmaking Gap With Development Of Indigenous Hydrogen Ion Implanter Technology

Chinese nuclear scientists have reportedly developed a world-class "microscopic scalpel" essential to various forms of chipmaking, potentially unblocking a bottleneck in the country's efforts to fortify key supply chains.

The China Institute of Atomic Energy announced on Saturday (17 January) that it had created the nation's first high-energy hydrogen ion implanter, called the POWER-750H, which performs on a par with advanced international standards.

Ion implanters are a critical part of semiconductor manufacturing, accelerating ions to embed them in silicon wafers during chip production.

The technology has long been dominated by overseas players, with weaknesses in ion implantation representing one of China's key equipment gaps alongside lithography and metrology.

For years, China had relied entirely on imports for high-energy hydrogen ion implanters, with foreign technological barriers and market monopolies restricting domestic progress in this field.

The China Institute of Atomic Energy leveraged decades of expertise in nuclear physics and accelerator technology, drawing on tandem accelerator capabilities to achieve the breakthrough.

The development comes as China intensifies efforts to build domestic semiconductor capabilities amid export controls that have limited access to advanced chipmaking equipment and materials.

The country's semiconductor toolmakers have made strides in deposition, etching and thermal processing, but have faced persistent challenges in areas including ion implantation.

The breakthrough represents another step in China's push towards semiconductor self-sufficiency as part of its 15th Five-Year Plan.

With expanding production capacity and accelerating equipment localisation, the nation has signalled a decisive shift toward technical independence in chipmaking.

The development of the POWER-750H addresses a critical gap in China's domestic semiconductor equipment portfolio, potentially reducing reliance on foreign suppliers for this essential manufacturing technology.

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