China's first domestically developed tandem high-energy hydrogen ion implanter (POWER-750H), independently developed by the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE), successfully achieved beam extraction recently, with key performance indicators reaching internationally advanced levels, according to the CIAE's official Wechat account on Saturday.

China's first domestically developed tandem high-energy hydrogen ion implanter (POWER-750H) successfully achieved beam extraction recently. Photo: screenshot from the official Wechat account of the China Institute of Atomic Energy

This breakthrough indicates that China has now fully mastered the entire research and development chain of tandem high-energy hydrogen ion implanter technology, overcoming a critical bottleneck in the power semiconductor manufacturing process. It lays a solid foundation for advancing the independent and controllable development of high-end manufacturing equipment and safeguarding the security of the industrial supply chain.

According to the article, alongside lithography machines, etching equipment, and thin-film deposition tools, ion implanters are regarded as one of the "four core pieces of equipment" essential to chip manufacturing and are indispensable to semiconductor production. The successful development of the high-energy hydrogen ion implanter represents a major achievement in the deep integration of nuclear technology and the semiconductor industry. It will significantly enhance China's self-reliance in key areas such as power semiconductors, while providing strong technological support for achieving the goals of peak carbon and carbon neutrality and accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces.

For a long time, China has been entirely dependent on foreign imports for high-energy hydrogen ion implanters. Due to their high technical complexity and formidable entry barriers, such equipment has been one of the key constraints on the upgrading of China's strategic industries. Drawing on decades of accumulated expertise in nuclear physics accelerator research, CIAE adopted tandem accelerator technology as its core approach to overcome a series of technical challenges. The institute has now fully mastered forward-design capabilities for tandem high-energy hydrogen ion implanters, covering everything from fundamental principles to complete system integration, thereby breaking foreign technological blockades and long-standing monopolies in this field, said the article.