Integrated circuits and semiconductors: Russia builds and tests its first photolithography machine

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Is Russia about to join the race in semiconductor manufacturing? ? Moscow announced in May that it had built its first photolithography machine, a machine used in the production of integrated circuits and semiconductor devices. The machine, which can currently make chips up to 350 nanometers (nm) in size, is currently being tested, Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Vasily Shpak said. 

Like artificial intelligence, semiconductor production is the focal point of the Sino-American rivalry, both economic and security-related. Washington and Beijing are making massive efforts, including through colossal subsidies, to develop their national chip production capacities and reduce their dependence on the other. In 2022, the Biden administration passed the CHIPS Research and Development Act, providing the sector with $52 billion.  

China has already announced an ambitious plan to develop a semiconductor industry in 2023 with an investment of $74 billion and has set itself the goal of leading the global market.  

Russia intends to join the race 

Uncle Sam has imposed, since 2022, severe restrictions on exports to China of advanced chips, production equipment and associated software, in the name of their national security, to counter Chinese growth and maintain its hegemony. An advance that the United States owes, among others, to Taiwan, more precisely TSMC, a vital subcontractor and the world's largest chipmaker, which has announced the construction of new factories in North America, Europe and Japan given the risks of a Chinese invasion that the island state faces.  

China has filed a complaint against the American restrictions at the WTO, deeming them contrary to the rules of international trade, responding in turn with restrictions on exports of two metals, of which it is the world's leading producer and which are essential for the manufacture of semiconductors. 

A race that has pushed Russia to consider its own production. At the end of 2023, Deputy Minister of Trade Vasily Shpak said in an interview that “without sovereign microelectronics, there is no sovereignty”. “We understand perfectly well that we need our own technology, which would allow us not to lose the ability to manufacture microelectronic products regardless of external circumstances”.  

Referring to the increasingly strained access to semiconductors, he rightly recalled the American sanctions against China. “Since September 1 [2023], they have no longer been supplied with lithographic equipment. They have not supplied us for a long time. This can affect any state, and not only us, and other countries have understood this. That's why everyone is rushing towards the development of microelectronics,” he explains. 

Photolithography tested in Zelenograd 

He then announced “the start of production of a Russian lithograph for a topology of 350 nanometers” for 2024. “We plan to go further, we will strive to reach the most modern topologies,” he said. While 350 nm chips are indeed considered outdated by some modern standards, they are still used in various industries such as automotive, energy and telecommunications.  

“We have assembled and produced the first domestic lithograph. It is currently being tested in the technology city of Zelenograd,” he said, according to the official TASS news agency. 

A photolithography machine is a crucial piece of equipment used in the manufacturing of integrated circuits and semiconductor devices. It is a microfabrication technique that transfers specific patterns onto a substrate, usually a silicon wafer, to create electronic circuits on a microscopic scale.  

Equipment of this level of complexity is assembled by several major players worldwide, the largest of which is the Dutch ASML, as well as Canon and Nikon. According to the same Russian official, two factories could be responsible for this production: Mikron and Angstrem. The former already provides chip manufacturing capacity from 65 to 250 nm. The second, which went bankrupt due to US sanctions and reorganized in 2019, offers chip manufacturing from 90 to 250 nm. 

Moscow has set itself the goal of producing 65nm chips by 2026, 28nm chips by 2027, and 14nm chips by 2030. The Russian electronics industry is experiencing, according to Vassily Shpak, significant growth rates. 

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