Russian Electronics: Semiconductor and Processors #2

The first Russian photolithograph was created in Zelenograd - it is suitable for producing 350 nm chips
06/04/2024

“We assembled and made the first domestic lithograph. It is now undergoing testing as part of the technological line in Zelenograd,” this is how an official from the Ministry of Industry announced this significant event for Russian microelectronics, on whose order the Zelenograd Nanotechnology Center (ZNTC) has been developing since 2022 . By the end of 2024, it should be completed with the creation of a prototype photolithograph for the production of microcircuits with a topological level of 350 nm. ZNTC plans to launch serial production of this equipment by the end of 2025.

“Chips with a size of 350 nanometers, although considered large, are still used in many industries, including the automotive industry, energy and telecommunications,” TASS comments on the level of the first photolithograph.

A photolithograph (stepper) for the production of 350 nm microcircuits is an installation weighing 3.5 tons and dimensions 2x2.6x2.5 meters (optical-mechanical device, laser lens with an operating wavelength of 365 nm) plus a control complex. Photolithography processes take place inside: individual processing of silicon wafers (150 and 200 mm in diameter) with automatic loading and unloading of them from cassettes.

Two competitions of the Ministry of Industry and Trade for the development of domestic installations for printing microcircuits on silicon wafers ( the first with a topology level of up to 130 nm with the prospect of its subsequent modernization to a topological level of 65 nm, the second - up to 350 nm) were held in the fall of 2021. ZNTC became the winner of both as the only participant. The final contract value for the first competition was 5.7 billion rubles, for the second - almost 1 billion rubles. The development of photolithographs is one of the first projects of the state program to localize in Russia the technological chain for the production of microcircuits with topological standards of 350...130 nm using completely Russian equipment, as reported in the nanocenter.

“As part of the project to develop a 350 nm photolithograph, we are taking a ready-made laser - a semiconductor, domestic one. Perhaps Zelenograd companies specializing in laser technologies will be able to take part in the supply of such equipment in the future; a separate competitive procedure will be held for this,” ZNTC General Director Anatoly Kovalev told Zelenograd.ru.

ZNTC's partners in developing a photolithograph are the Russian laser manufacturer LASSARD and the Belarusian company Planar, which has retained competence in the development of photolithographs since the times of the USSR. At the beginning of 2023, ZNTC agreed with the Belarusian chip manufacturer Integral on the conditions for pre-ordering equipment for photolithography with a topology level of 350 nm.

Today, only three companies in the world produce such equipment: the Dutch ASML, which occupies 84% ​​of the market, and two Japanese companies - Nikon and Canon. “The cost of domestic photolithographs, according to our preliminary estimates, should be lower than foreign ones,” predicted Anatoly Kovalev. “But that’s not the only important thing.” Today, the import of new photolithographic equipment to Russia is under serious restrictions, and in any case, the country needs to solve the problem of developing its own steppers, since photolithography is the basis of any technological process in microelectronics.”

The head of the technological equipment development center and the chief designer of two R&D projects for the creation of domestic photolithographs, Dmitry Kalbazov, spoke in more detail about the progress of the development of the first Russian photolithograph in 2022 and the operating principles of this installation on the Culture TV channel.

As for the 130-65 nm photolithograph, it is planned to develop a completely domestic laser with a wavelength of 193 nm from scratch and obtain a prototype stepper by the end of 2026.

https://www.zelenograd.ru/news/55678/

Im so glad that Russia started investing in microelectronics! I hope industrial robotics will follow

GarryB wrote:So basically what I took from that article is that a Russian company got together with a Belarussian company to make a new lithography machine... the Russian company has nothing to do with lasers and the laser was provided by the company from Belarus that is using technology from the Soviet era.

medo wrote:I don't think anyone could develope whole Lithography machine in two years and this one is allready industrial one, which is now instaling in production plant. I would say they are replacing imported laser with domestic one as contract want fully dpomestic machine. For 350 nm technology, they already have domestic one and machine is build and will be now tested, for 130 to 65 nm they have to develop laser. Who knows, how many lithography machines they already produce with imported laser to increase chip production. Chinese lasers could do the job as well to counter western sanctions..

GarryB wrote:They have the advantage that their software is not going to be bloatware and spyware that takes up lots of space and takes up clock time transmitting everything to Apple or the NSA or something.

I remember a computer game I used to play in the 1990s called Frontier elite II.

kvs wrote:They should invest in photonics instead of wasting time with "5 nm" and other BS.  So it is OK to push for 28/14 nm, but after that it is a waste of time.

Photonic ICs can support much greater density of base-level processes needed for any logic array.  They do not act like efficient electricity to heat
converters as well.   So the major problem of electrical load from HPC centers can be solved.   Of course, the current state of photonic ICs is very
primitive.   But Russia should not be behind the curve like it was with electrical ICs.

GS Group has shipped 100,000 Russian RISC-V-based MIK32 Amur microcontrollers — another 400,000 are on the way
July 16, 2024

The Kaliningrad-based GS Nanotech company, part of the GS Group holding, announced the assembly and shipment of the 100,000th batch of MIK32 Amur microcontrollers on the open RISC-V architecture, ordered by JSC Mikron.

According to JSC Mikron, due to high demand and in order to increase the volume of product packaging, in addition to its own assembly production, the company uses the capacities of GS Nanotech, which, under the agreement, will assemble up to 0.5 million Amur microcontrollers in a case by the end of the year. “We have extensive experience in microcontroller packaging and are pleased to apply it in cooperation with our long-standing partner,” said GS Group Vice President for Production Development.

As reported, during the execution of the order, GS Nanotech used the experience previously accumulated in large-scale assembly of chips in BGA, LGA packages, as well as complex multi-pin microcircuits, including using SiP (system-in-package) technology. Thanks to this, the yield of good products was 99.2%. The company also developed a test program to control full compliance with the declared characteristics of the microcontrollers.

“MIK32 Amur” (K1949VK018) is the first fully domestic 32-bit microcontroller with a core on the RISC-V architecture, which was developed and manufactured in Russia by the Element Group of Companies (developed jointly with the Progress Research Institute of Microelectronics, manufactured by Mikron). The product is included in the Unified Register of Russian Radio-Electronic Products (RF PP 878) and its production does not depend on licensed foreign intellectual property.

https://www.aroged.com/2024/07/16/gs-group-has-shipped-100000-russian-risc-v-based-mik32-amur-microcontrollers-another-400000-are-on-the-way/

Demand for the first Russian RISC-V microcontroller MIK32 “Amur” exceeded expectations
May 4, 2024

The Element group company faced high demand for its own microcontroller MIK32 “Amur”. We are talking about millions of pieces, which is why their packaging is carried out not only at our own facilities in Zelenograd near Moscow, but also at third-party contract production. Vedomosti writes about this with reference to its own informed sources.

The message says that orders for packaging MIK32 Amur microcontrollers have also been placed at the Kaliningrad enterprise of the GS Group. A representative of Element confirmed this information, but did not specify how many orders we are talking about. A source close to several industry companies said that GS Group expects to package more than 2 million MIK32 Amur microcontrollers in 2024-2025.

Let us remind you that MIK32 “Amur” is the first completely domestic microcontroller with a core based on the open RISC-V architecture, the production of which began this year. A microcontroller, unlike a microprocessor, can only perform specified, highly specialized operations. It can be used, for example, in smart home devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), transport infrastructure, telecommunications equipment, robotics, etc. The device was developed by specialists from Mikron and NIIMA Progress (also part of the Element Group of Companies).

In 2022, the media wrote that Mikron planned to invest 80-90 million rubles in the development of this microcontroller, and another 100-300 million rubles in the launch of mass production. At that time, the company planned to occupy 30% of the Russian microcontroller market by 2025, and then begin exporting devices to Southeast Asian countries.

According to BusinesStat, the production of processors and controllers in Russia in 2023 decreased by 22% compared to the figures for 2021 and amounted to 8.1 million units. The decrease in production volumes is due to the ban of Western countries on the supply of certain components, software and equipment to Russia, as well as the fact that the state has tightened localization requirements.

As for Mikron's production capabilities, in March of this year the company launched chip packaging lines capable of producing up to 18 million products per year. According to a representative of the Element Group of Companies, since the start of sales of the MIK32 Amur microcontroller in February of this year, there has been an increased demand for the product. A source close to Element said that several hundred companies are interested in purchasing microcontrollers, including telecommunications operators and manufacturers of smart devices. He also added that the first batches of microcontrollers that were created at the Micron plant have already been completely sold out.

The message also says that Mikron is currently going through the “run-in” stage of production and is producing pilot batches on new lines, so some orders are placed at other people’s facilities. Setting up production may take several months, after which the company will leave the GS Group facilities and will cover all its needs by the end of summer 2024.

“The high demand for the Amur microcontroller looks quite natural, since at the moment it is the only domestic microcontroller that is both developed and produced in Russia, and is available for mass production. It can be considered a breakthrough device not only for Mikron itself, but also for Russian microelectronics in general,” says Andrey Evdokimov, CEO of Baikal Electronics. He also added that the market demand for such a microcontroller is very high and can amount to hundreds of thousands of units per year.

https://www.aroged.com/2024/05/04/demand-for-the-first-russian-risc-v-microcontroller-mik32-amur-exceeded-expectations/