China should reform its funding, training and appraisal systems to push forward semiconductor-related scientific research, according to two top scientists.
In a widely circulated
article, a Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) academician and chip researcher say China’s chip sector has entered a “dark forest” without access to advanced US chip-making software and coming restrictions on deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography tools made by Japan and the Netherlands.
The authors note China has attached great importance to fundamental scientific research in recent years but still faces several challenges.
Luo Junwei, a researcher at the CAS Institute of Semiconductors, and Li Shushen, a CAS vice president, wrote in an article published on February 17 that deep reform is needed to improve China’s chip research.
“Over the years, all the fundamental research achievements in the global semiconductor and micro-electronic sector have been included in the process design kit (PDK) of the EDA,” they write, referring to the electronic design automation market segment.
“As Chinese chip makers could buy and use the PDK in the past, our decision-makers, government officials and industry players tended to think that China could develop its chip sector without fundamental research.”
“But since the US turned off the ‘lighthouse,’ we have now entered a dark forest,” they wrote, referring to US blocks on selling advanced chip-making equipment to China.
They argue that China now faces shortages of physicists, research funding and institutions while the current appraisal system for scientific research is more a hindrance than help.
Back in 1997, the Ministry of Education canceled the semiconductor physics and devices course previously taught in universities and since then China has faced a shortage of semiconductor researchers.
The writers say China’s research and development investments in the sector represent less than 5% of US investments while China still lacks a proper institution to organize the industry’s developments.
“China’s chip makers are now two generations behind their foreign counterparts as they focused too much on yield improvement and did not spend time on developing the next generation transistors,” argue Luo and Li.
“Researchers in the universities and institutions cannot really help find out the problems in the industry as they only read academic papers or attend conferences,” they wrote.
The authors argue that China could avoid future restraints caused by US sanctions if it started increasing its fundamental research on FinField-Effect (FinFET) transistors now.
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Publisher
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