- Capability group
- Semiconductors & Advanced Computing
- Domain
- Critical Technology · Hard Power
- Identifier
- factbase.org/cap/D7FWJJE206
Papers
–
2020–2024
Paper growth
–
2020–24 on 2015–19
Patent families
132.4k
2020–2024
Filed abroad
39%
families in more than one office
What it covers
What the capability covers and what it leaves to others, and the indicators it will be measured by.
Bounds
Covers the equipment and materials layer of the chain, the point of maximum chokepoint leverage, read chiefly at the control layer; equipment factories belong to Strategic Infrastructure, and materials chemistry is shared with the materials group.
Lineage
New in v0.1; the v0.0 taxonomy had no node for the layer of the chain where supply concentration is greatest and where control instruments actually operate, a structural blindness this release repairs.
Indicators
- semiconductor equipment market sharePending
- lithography and deposition tool supply positionPending
- wafer and photoresist supply sharePending
Who publishes it
No research data maps to this capability yet: it is new in framework v0.1 and the research classification still follows the v0.0 topics.
Who patents it
Patent families by the nation of origin of their applicants and their earliest priority year, from the CPC and IPC classes the capability is read from. 2025 onwards is incomplete: families are published 18 months after priority.
Families by priority year
The five leading origins, families by year
19,835 applicants filed here in 2015–2024; the five largest held 15% of families (HHI 69 of 10,000: unconcentrated).
Share of families by origin, 2020–2024
- 1China46.2%61,206 families
- 2Japan19.6%26,003 families
- 3South Korea15.7%20,831 families
- 4United States7.4%9,851 families
- 5Taiwan3.8%5,040 families
- 6Germany2.4%3,184 families
- 7Netherlands2.1%2,724 families
- 8France0.5%600 families
- 9Singapore0.3%335 families
- 10United Kingdom0.2%330 families
Applicants filing most internationally, 2015–2024
Families filed in more than one office, by applicant as the offices name them.
- 1TOKYO ELECTRON LTD6,196international families
- 2APPLIED MATERIALS INC4,982international families
- 3SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD3,468international families
- 4TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MFG CO LTD3,077international families
- 5ASML NETHERLANDS BV2,828international families
- 6FUJIFILM CORP1,977international families
- 7LAM RES CORP1,883international families
- 8DISCO CORP1,789international families
- 9DISCO ABRASIVE SYSTEMS LTD1,763international families
- 10SCREEN HOLDINGS CO LTD1,676international families
Classification read
- G03F Photolithography: exposure tools, photoresists, masks · 2m documents
- H10P72/00 Wafer handling, holding and processing apparatus · 2.1m documents
- H01J37/32 Plasma processing chambers for etch and deposition · 629.4k documents
- H01J37/30 Electron-beam and ion-beam tools, including ion implanters · 90.4k documents
- C23C16/00 Chemical vapour deposition and atomic layer deposition · 1m documents
- C30B Single-crystal growth and epitaxy for wafers · 481.4k documents
- C09G1/02 Polishing slurries for wafer planarisation · 33.3k documents
- C09K13/00 Etching compositions · 25.2k documents
- G01N21/9501 Optical inspection of semiconductor wafers · 33.2k documents
Shares inventions with
Capabilities whose classes the same families also fall in, by overlap (Jaccard).
- Advanced Semiconductor Fabrication47,125 families · 0.248
- Functional Materials & Coatings8,429 families · 0.071
- Advanced Packaging & Heterogeneous Integration11,734 families · 0.069
- Compound & Power Semiconductors3,097 families · 0.027
- Nanomaterials & Metamaterials2,374 families · 0.020
Who makes it
The companies that research, design, make, supply and operate the technology, the global leaders and the leading firms of every region.
50 companies in this capability, from 15 nations across 5 regions. Sorted by how experts see each company's global relevance in the field, from very high to very low.
- Very high5 companies
- 1Very highEquipment & machineryVeldhovenNetherlands198444kASML
Sole supplier of EUV lithography scanners and the leading supplier of DUV immersion scanners, the critical chokepoint tool for leading-edge chipmaking.
Very high relevance · Equipment & machinery · Netherlands, Veldhoven · founded 1984 · 44k staff
- 2Very highEquipment & machinerySanta ClaraUnited States196736kAMAT
World's largest wafer fab equipment maker by revenue, leading in deposition (CVD, PVD, epitaxy), ion implant, CMP and e-beam inspection.
Very high relevance · Equipment & machinery · United States, Santa Clara · founded 1967 · 36k staff
- 3Very highEquipment & machineryFremontUnited States198017kLRCX
Market leader in plasma etch and a major supplier of deposition and wafer-clean tools, especially for 3D NAND high-aspect-ratio etch.
Very high relevance · Equipment & machinery · United States, Fremont · founded 1980 · 17k staff
- 4Very highEquipment & machineryTokyoJapan1963–8035
Japan's largest chip-equipment maker, with near-monopoly share in EUV coater/developer tracks and major positions in etch, deposition and cleaning; top international patent applicant in this capability.
Very high relevance · Equipment & machinery · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1963
- 5Very highEquipment & machineryMilpitasUnited States197515kKLAC
Dominant supplier of wafer and reticle inspection and metrology systems used for process control in every advanced fab.
Very high relevance · Equipment & machinery · United States, Milpitas · founded 1975 · 15k staff
- High12 companies
- 6HighAdvanced materialsTokyoJapan1926–4063
World's largest silicon wafer producer (via Shin-Etsu Handotai) and a leading supplier of photoresists and photomask blanks.
High relevance · Advanced materials · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1926
- 7HighEquipment & machineryOberkochenGermany184643kPrivate
Zeiss SMT is the exclusive maker of the optics and mirrors in ASML's DUV and EUV lithography systems, including High-NA EUV.
High relevance · Equipment & machinery · Germany, Oberkochen · founded 1846 · 43k staff
- 8HighAdvanced materialsTokyoJapan1999–3436
World's second-largest silicon wafer maker, a key supplier of 300mm prime wafers to leading-edge logic and memory fabs.
High relevance · Advanced materials · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1999
- 9HighEquipment & machineryAlmereNetherlands1968–ASM
Global leader in atomic layer deposition (ALD) and a major epitaxy supplier, critical for gate-all-around transistors.
High relevance · Equipment & machinery · Netherlands, Almere · founded 1968
- 10HighEquipment & machineryTokyoJapan1954–6857
Largest maker of automated test equipment for SoCs and memory, with dominant share in testing AI accelerators and HBM.
High relevance · Equipment & machinery · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1954
- 11HighEquipment & machineryKyotoJapan1943–7735
Leading supplier of single-wafer and batch wet cleaning equipment, holding the top global share in wafer cleaning.
High relevance · Equipment & machinery · Japan, Kyoto · founded 1943
- 12HighChemicals & gasesDarmstadtGermany166863kMRK
Its Electronics sector (EMD Electronics, incl. former Versum Materials) supplies deposition precursors, specialty gases, CMP slurries, patterning materials and delivery systems.
High relevance · Chemicals & gases · Germany, Darmstadt · founded 1668 · 63k staff
- 13HighChemicals & gasesBillericaUnited States19668,000ENTG
Leading supplier of ultra-pure filtration, specialty chemicals, CMP slurries and pads, and wafer and reticle handling for fabs.
High relevance · Chemicals & gases · United States, Billerica · founded 1966 · 8,000 staff
- 14HighChemicals & gasesTokyoJapan1957–State-owned
Top-tier photoresist maker (including EUV metal-oxide resist via Inpria), taken private in 2024 by the government-backed Japan Investment Corporation.
High relevance · Chemicals & gases · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1957
- 15HighChemicals & gasesKawasakiJapan1940–4186
World's largest photoresist supplier by share, leading in KrF and EUV resists and high-purity process chemicals.
High relevance · Chemicals & gases · Japan, Kawasaki · founded 1940
- 16HighEquipment & machineryTokyoJapan1937–6146
Dominant maker of wafer dicing saws, laser saws and grinders, essential to thinning and singulating wafers for HBM and advanced packaging.
High relevance · Equipment & machinery · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1937
- 17HighEquipment & machineryNorth Reading, MassachusettsUnited States1960–TER
One of two global leaders in semiconductor automated test equipment for SoC and memory devices.
High relevance · Equipment & machinery · United States, North Reading, Massachusetts · founded 1960
- Moderate22 companies
- 18ModerateEquipment & machineryYokohamaJapan1960–6920
Sole supplier of actinic EUV mask-blank and patterned-mask inspection systems.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · Japan, Yokohama · founded 1960
- 19ModerateEquipment & machineryTokyoJapan1949–6525
Leading supplier of batch thermal processing and batch ALD furnaces, especially for 3D NAND.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1949
- 20ModerateEquipment & machineryBeijingChina2001–002371
China's largest semiconductor equipment maker, supplying etch, PVD/CVD, furnace and cleaning tools to domestic fabs.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · China, Beijing · founded 2001
- 21ModerateChemicals & gasesParisFrance190267kAI
Major supplier of ultra-high-purity carrier gases, specialty gases and advanced deposition precursors to fabs worldwide.
Moderate relevance · Chemicals & gases · France, Paris · founded 1902 · 67k staff
- 22ModerateAdvanced materialsHsinchuTaiwan2011–6488
Third-largest silicon wafer maker globally, with plants in Taiwan, Japan, Europe and a new 300mm fab in Texas.
Moderate relevance · Advanced materials · Taiwan, Hsinchu · founded 2011
- 23ModerateAdvanced materialsMunichGermany1968–WAF
Europe's leading hyperpure silicon wafer producer and one of the top four global suppliers of 300mm wafers.
Moderate relevance · Advanced materials · Germany, Munich · founded 1968
- 24ModerateEquipment & machineryTokyoJapan2001–Private
Wholly owned Hitachi subsidiary that leads in CD-SEM metrology and supplies conductor etch and inspection systems.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · Japan, Tokyo · founded 2001
- 25ModerateChemicals & gasesTokyoJapan1939–4004
Formerly Showa Denko, a top supplier of CMP slurries, high-purity etching gases and back-end packaging materials.
Moderate relevance · Chemicals & gases · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1939
- 26ModerateChemicals & gasesTokyoJapan1934–4901
Fujifilm (Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies)Fujifilm Electronic Materials supplies photoresists, CMP slurries and process chemicals, and is a leading patent filer in this capability.
Moderate relevance · Chemicals & gases · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1934
- 27ModerateEquipment & machineryShanghaiChina2004–688012
Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC)China's leading plasma etch toolmaker, with CCP etchers qualified at TSMC and Chinese fabs, plus MOCVD tools for LEDs.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · China, Shanghai · founded 2004
- 28ModerateComponents & subsystemsAndoverUnited States1961–MKSI
Key subsystem supplier of RF power, vacuum, pressure and gas-flow control to tool OEMs, plus plating chemistry via Atotech.
Moderate relevance · Components & subsystems · United States, Andover · founded 1961
- 29ModerateEquipment & machineryDitzingenGermany192319kPrivate
Sole maker of the high-power CO2 drive laser that generates the tin plasma light source in ASML EUV scanners.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · Germany, Ditzingen · founded 1923 · 19k staff
- 30ModerateEquipment & machineryDuivenNetherlands1995–BESI
BE Semiconductor Industries (Besi)Leader in die-attach and hybrid-bonding equipment for advanced packaging, partnered with Applied Materials on hybrid bonding.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · Netherlands, Duiven · founded 1995
- 31ModerateEquipment & machineryWilmingtonUnited States2019–ONTO
Supplies optical metrology, inspection and advanced-packaging lithography tools, formed by the Nanometrics-Rudolph merger.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · United States, Wilmington · founded 2019
- 32ModerateEquipment & machineryRehovotIsrael1993–NVMI
Israeli leader in optical, X-ray and chemical dimensional metrology used for process control at leading-edge fabs.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · Israel, Rehovot · founded 1993
- 33ModerateAdvanced materialsGumiSouth Korea1983–Private
SK Group subsidiary and Korea's only silicon wafer maker, a top-five global supplier that also makes SiC wafers in the US.
Moderate relevance · Advanced materials · South Korea, Gumi · founded 1983
- 34ModerateAdvanced materialsBerninFrance1992–SOI
Dominant maker of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) engineered substrates using its Smart Cut process, for RF, FD-SOI and photonics.
Moderate relevance · Advanced materials · France, Bernin · founded 1992
- 35ModerateComponents & subsystemsHaagSwitzerland1965–VACN
Global leader in high-end vacuum valves, a critical subsystem in nearly every deposition and etch tool.
Moderate relevance · Components & subsystems · Switzerland, Haag · founded 1965
- 36ModerateEquipment & machineryNackaSweden1873–ATCO A
Through Edwards Vacuum, the leading supplier of dry vacuum pumps and abatement systems for fabs and EUV tools.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · Sweden, Nacka · founded 1873
- 37ModerateEquipment & machinerySingaporeSingapore1951–KLIC
Singapore-headquartered world leader in wire and ball bonders and a supplier of thermocompression and advanced-packaging equipment.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · Singapore, Singapore · founded 1951
- 38ModerateEquipment & machinerySt. Florian am InnAustria1980–Private
Market leader in wafer-bonding and nanoimprint lithography equipment used in 3D integration, MEMS and hybrid bonding.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · Austria, St. Florian am Inn · founded 1980
- 39ModerateEquipment & machineryIncheonSouth Korea1980–042700
Leading supplier of thermocompression (TC) bonders used to stack DRAM dies in HBM for SK hynix and Micron.
Moderate relevance · Equipment & machinery · South Korea, Incheon · founded 1980
- Low9 companies
- 40LowEquipment & machineryFremontUnited States1998–ACMR
Supplier of single-wafer wet cleaning, electroplating and furnace tools, operating mainly through its Shanghai subsidiary for Chinese fabs.
Low relevance · Equipment & machinery · United States, Fremont · founded 1998
- 41LowAdvanced materialsShanghaiChina2015–688126National Silicon Industry Group (NSIG)
China's largest silicon wafer group (Zing Semiconductor, Okmetic in Finland, Simgui), state-fund backed to localise 300mm wafer supply.
Low relevance · Advanced materials · China, Shanghai · founded 2015
- 42LowEquipment & machineryShanghaiChina2002–State-ownedShanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE)
China's main domestic lithography scanner developer, producing 90nm-class DUV steppers and packaging lithography tools.
Low relevance · Equipment & machinery · China, Shanghai · founded 2002
- 43LowComponents & subsystemsFlamattSwitzerland1948–COTN
Supplies RF plasma power generators and matching networks for etch and deposition tools, plus X-ray inspection.
Low relevance · Components & subsystems · Switzerland, Flamatt · founded 1948
- 44LowEquipment & machineryTrübbachSwitzerland2004–Private
Swiss supplier of sputter and PVD thin-film deposition systems for advanced packaging, power devices and optoelectronics.
Low relevance · Equipment & machinery · Switzerland, Trübbach · founded 2004
- 45LowContract manufacturingSingaporeSingapore––558
Singapore precision-engineering firm making machined components and modules for wafer fab equipment, with Applied Materials as its main customer.
Low relevance · Contract manufacturing · Singapore, Singapore
- 46LowEquipment & machineryPenangMalaysia2000–0097
Malaysia's leading maker of machine-vision inspection systems for semiconductor back-end and electronics assembly.
Low relevance · Equipment & machinery · Malaysia, Penang · founded 2000
- 47LowEquipment & machinerySingaporeSingapore1992–AWX
Supplies system-level and burn-in test and thermal handling equipment, with Intel as an anchor customer.
Low relevance · Equipment & machinery · Singapore, Singapore · founded 1992
- 48LowEquipment & machineryPenangMalaysia1991–7160
Malaysian maker of automated test handlers and test equipment for semiconductor, sensor and power devices.
Low relevance · Equipment & machinery · Malaysia, Penang · founded 1991
- Very low2 companies
- 49Very lowEquipment & machineryMinskBelarus––State-owned
Belarusian state holding that makes photolithography, mask-making and inspection equipment, a main supplier of such tools to Russian microelectronics.
Very low relevance · Equipment & machinery · Belarus, Minsk
- 50Very lowProfessional & data servicesKuala LumpurMalaysia––0128
Provides precision cleaning, coating and refurbishment of chamber parts for wafer fab equipment, with TSMC as a major customer in Taiwan.
Very low relevance · Professional & data services · Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
