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Focus on the Breakthrough of Photoresist Raw Material Localization

Photoresist is also called the photoresist, is a kind of organic compounds is very sensitive to light, photochemical reaction will be available in lithography system after diffraction, filtering of optical information is converted into chemical energy,  and template will mask graphics transferred to the substrate, is an important step in precision electronic components manufacturing processes, photoresist is the key material in the process of electronic components processing. The global semiconductor photoresist market is dominated by leading manufacturers such as JSR, TOK, Sumitomo Chemical, Shin-etsu Chemical, Fujifilm Materials and Dow Chemical. Overseas manufacturers control nearly 90% of the semiconductor photoresist market. The technical level of domestic photoresist enterprises lags behind the world\'s advanced manufacturers, but in recent years, domestic enterprises have made remarkable achievements in active research and development. The downstream and midstream manufacturers of the industrial chain have basically closed the distance with foreign manufacturers, while the upstream materials and overseas leading enterprises still lag behind the overseas foreign companies.

The photoresist is mainly composed of solvents, photo-triggering agents, film forming resins and additives (monomers and other additives). Solvent accounts for the highest proportion in photoresist, ranging from 50% to 90%. At present, PGMEA is the main solvent used in semiconductor and panel photoresist, and the domestic self-sufficiency rate is relatively high. In 2021, the output will reach 375,000 tons and the demand will be 265,800 tons. The photoinitiator is the core part of photoresist, accounting for 1% to 6%. The proportion of film forming resin is between 10% and 40%. It is an inert polymer matrix and an important component of the sensitization of photoresist, which determines the basic properties of the photoresist after exposure.

The above three kinds of photoresist raw material industries are all in different industrial development stages. In the long term, after the technological breakthrough, Chinese photoresist collagen material manufacturers are expected to embrace the acceleration of domestic substitution, and the localization of semiconductor industry chain is an opportunity for Chinese chemical enterprises to achieve high-end products.