Lithography Machinery China Plans to Deliver Five of Its Own DUV Lithography Machines This Year

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China is preparing the delivery of its own immersion DUV systems. The technology, developed by Shanghai Yuliansheng, is set to be tested initially by leading Chinese chip manufacturers.

China appears to be moving closer to its goal of an independent lithography infrastructure. According to reports, five immersion DUV systems are to be delivered this year, with the technological foundation developed by Shanghai Yuliansheng Technology. An increase to around 20 systems is planned for 2027.

Shanghai Yuliansheng was founded about four years ago as a state-backed company and is said to have connections to the telecommunications and technology corporation Huawei as well as the semiconductor equipment supplier SiCarrier. The relatively unknown company focuses on manufacturing technology for the Chinese semiconductor industry.

Shanghai Aishengna Electronic Technology Group is now said to have taken over Yuliansheng's development team. Aishengna is named in reports as the company responsible for manufacturing the systems developed by Yuliansheng or delivering them to Chinese customers. This suggests that the project is apparently divided between development work at Yuliansheng and further industrialization under Aishengna's umbrella.

Immersion DUV for Advanced Processes

The system is an immersion system for deep ultraviolet lithography. In this process, a liquid is placed between the projection optics and the wafer, which increases the numerical aperture and thereby the achievable resolution of structures. Immersion DUV has been a key technology for the manufacturing of advanced semiconductors for many years.

The Chinese system is said to be designed for 28-nanometer structures with a single exposure. Through multiple structuring, processes of the 7-nanometer class and possibly the 5-nanometer class are expected to be achievable. In this method, the desired structures are created in multiple exposure and processing steps, significantly increasing the complexity and effort of manufacturing.

Technically, the machine is said to be modeled on the Twinscan NXT:1950i from ASML, an immersion DUV system introduced by the Dutch manufacturer in 2008. However, reliable information on the exposure performance, wafer throughput, overlay accuracy, and long-term process stability of the Chinese system is not yet available.

It also remains unclear which key components already originate from Chinese production. Lithography systems consist of high-precision light sources, optics, wafer and reticle stages, measurement systems, as well as complex control software. The availability and mastery of these components are critical factors in determining whether a system can be reliably used in series production.

Practical Testing with Chinese Chip Manufacturers

According to reports, the intended recipients of the first systems include Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, Hua Hong Semiconductor, and the memory manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies. SMIC is said to have been testing an immersion DUV system developed by Yuliansheng since September 2025.

The first deliveries should primarily be understood as a technological and industrial testing phase. For deployment in a semiconductor factory, it is not enough to merely achieve the required structure size. Key factors include stable throughput, low defect rates, precise overlay of multiple mask layers, and high availability over long production periods.

Whether Shanghai Yuliansheng and Aishengna already meet these requirements cannot be assessed based on the information published so far. However, the planned production volumes suggest that China aims to go beyond individual laboratory prototypes and establish its own industrial base for immersion DUV systems. This makes lithography increasingly a central component of China's strategy for technologically independent semiconductor manufacturing.