- 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
In the framework
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
Research
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.
Patents
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
Companies
50 companies in this capability, across 5 regions. The leading 12:
- 1ASMLSole supplier of EUV lithography scanners and the leading supplier of DUV immersion scanners, the critical chokepoint tool for leading-edge chipmaking.Equipment & materials
- 2Applied MaterialsWorld's largest wafer fab equipment maker by revenue, leading in deposition (CVD, PVD, epitaxy), ion implant, CMP and e-beam inspection.Equipment & materials
- 3Lam ResearchMarket leader in plasma etch and a major supplier of deposition and wafer-clean tools, especially for 3D NAND high-aspect-ratio etch.Equipment & materials
- 4Tokyo ElectronJapan'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.Equipment & materials
- 5KLADominant supplier of wafer and reticle inspection and metrology systems used for process control in every advanced fab.Equipment & materials
- 6Shin-Etsu ChemicalWorld's largest silicon wafer producer (via Shin-Etsu Handotai) and a leading supplier of photoresists and photomask blanks.Equipment & materials
- 7Carl Zeiss AGZeiss SMT is the exclusive maker of the optics and mirrors in ASML's DUV and EUV lithography systems, including High-NA EUV.Equipment & materials
- 8SUMCOWorld's second-largest silicon wafer maker, a key supplier of 300mm prime wafers to leading-edge logic and memory fabs.Equipment & materials
- 9ASM InternationalGlobal leader in atomic layer deposition (ALD) and a major epitaxy supplier, critical for gate-all-around transistors.Equipment & materials
- 10AdvantestLargest maker of automated test equipment for SoCs and memory, with dominant share in testing AI accelerators and HBM.Equipment & materials
- 11SCREEN HoldingsLeading supplier of single-wafer and batch wet cleaning equipment, holding the top global share in wafer cleaning.Equipment & materials
- 12Merck KGaA (MilliporeSigma)Its Electronics sector (EMD Electronics, incl. former Versum Materials) supplies deposition precursors, specialty gases, CMP slurries, patterning materials and delivery systems.Equipment & materials