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[Beijingwalker]

Beyond lithography: Chinese chip toolmaker achieves wafer polishing breakthrough​

While global attention focuses on the most advanced bottlenecks, domestic equipment makers are quietly closing the gap in other essential technologies​

Published: 6:30pm, 7 Aug 2026

Chinese chip-tool developers continue to make technical progress, with the latest breakthrough in wafer polishing – a critical manufacturing step that flattens and smooths silicon discs – even as the industry remains heavily dependent on foreign suppliers for more complex manufacturing procedures.

Hwatsing Technology, China’s leading producer of chemical mechanical polishing equipment, announced a new metrology system for six-inch wafers on Thursday. The ultra-precise measurement is designed to identify defects and ensure manufacturing consistency.

Wafers are thin, flat discs of semiconductor material that serve as the base for microchips, integrated circuits and electronic devices. Turning a raw wafer into a finished chip requires multiple steps, including coating the surface with photoresist, etching intricate layers and wiring microscopic transistors.


According to Hwatsing, its new measurement tool can be integrated directly into the polishing workflow – marking the country’s first six-inch metrology system paired with chemical mechanical polishing equipment. The set-up would enable real-time measurements before and after polishing, feeding live data back to the control system, the company said.

This direct integration could improve wafer uniformity and reduce waste, helping to address the inefficiencies of traditional production lines, it added.


Based in the northern city of Tianjin, Hwatsing reported that it had shipped the new system to an unnamed “leading domestic optical silicon materials producer”.

The system targets chips used in power devices, microelectromechanical systems and sensors, mostly with mature processing nodes. Such devices are widely used in electric vehicles, industrial equipment, consumer electronics and telecommunications infrastructure.

In terms of broader performance, domestic suppliers accounted for 21 per cent of China’s overall wafer-fabrication equipment market in 2025, while local wafer polishers enjoyed a higher rate of 39 per cent, according to a May report by brokerage Bernstein.

Hwatsing remained the “undisputed leader” in the domestic wafer polishing segment, supplying 85 per cent of the market, according to Bernstein. Across all competitors, Hwatsing’s share reached 37 per cent last year, up from 1 per cent in 2018, according to Chinese brokerage Soochow Securities.

However, the self-sufficiency rate for wafer metrology and inspection tools stood at just 10 per cent, despite domestic manufacturers recording a 63 per cent increase in revenue last year, it added.

Progress remains severely constrained in lithography – the strategic chipmaking technology dominated by Dutch giant ASML, which is barred from selling its most advanced deep-ultraviolet lithography systems and all-extreme-ultraviolet machines to China. According to Bernstein, there were “virtually no viable local alternatives” and “zero meaningful progress” in substituting the foreign technology.

Beyond lithography: Chinese chip toolmaker achieves wafer polishing breakthrough

While global attention focuses on the most advanced bottlenecks, domestic equipment makers are quietly closing the gap in other essential technologies.

www.scmp.com

 

[Beijingwalker]