|
Merchant photomask companies service the majority of the 14nm and greater nodes globally. These industry important nodes are facing mask supply challenges in the coming decade due to new organic growth and tool obsolescence. The first factor driving photomask volume is the significant wafer capacity being added globally at mid and mature technologies (>=28nm). The semiconductor growth is being driven by macro market trends including a renewed global appreciation of the strategic nature of the semiconductor business. The growth also is the result of new technology innovations like automotive electrification & ADAS, Artificial Intelligence, telecom (5G/6G), IoT, green power, and medical applications. The overall semiconductor business is forecasted to grow upwards of 8% CAGR from 2022 – 2030 1 with a significant portion occurring in Mid and Mature Technologies. This growth will require significant non-leading edge mask capacity. This paper will quantify the growth and the availability of tooling. Historically, photomask equipment makers produced new tools for the “leading edge” and the trailing nodes were serviced by previous generations of advanced photomasks tools. Fortunately, the photomask equipment manufacturers responded to the trailing edge needs and have introduced tools and upgrades to begin addressing this market. The second issue facing the photomask industry is significant equipment obsolescence for the mask tools that support mature technologies. This paper quantifies the obsolescence challenge. The dual factors of new organic growth and tool retirements has created a shortage of mask supply at the mid and mature nodes. There are challenges to add mask capacity to these mature nodes in an economically viable fashion. We believe that cooperation between mask maker, tool suppliers and mask customers is crucial to ensure that the predicted semiconductor growth does not face the risk of being constrained by photomasks.
|
