“It is necessary to ensure the production of high-level processors”

The general director of the Zelenograd Nanotechnology Center told Kommersant about the problems and opportunities of domestic manufacturers and developers of microelectronics Anatoly Kovalev.

— How did the 2022 sanctions affect the work of Russian microelectronics manufacturers?

— Restrictions first of all complicated the possibility of access to modern production technologies. It was possible to solve some of the problems associated with the release of ECB (electronic component base.— “b”) with topological norms up to 180 nm. As for access to technologies of the level of 90 nm and below, measures are being taken to develop cooperation with factories in friendly countries, primarily in Asia. Russian manufacturers are also undergoing modernization.

It is important to remember that organizing contract manufacturing abroad is only part of the job. It is necessary to redesign the component base to meet the requirements of new partners: each enterprise works with certain solution libraries and according to certain standards. So far, these issues have not been resolved.

– At the same time, I would like to note the most significant, in my opinion, fact: domestic design centers have managed to maintain the capabilities of designing a modern ECB, namely, access to the necessary software and human resources.

– In 2021, your enterprise became the executor of one of the state contracts of the Ministry of Industry and Trade for the development of Russian equipment for the production of semiconductors. How are the works going, have the sanctions affected?

“We are not the only ones in production. This is a major government project to create a line of necessary equipment. Specifically, our task is to develop a photolithographic installation. First of all, we are talking about the design standards of 350 nm.

Our company continues to work, including in cooperation with Belarusian partners, one of them is the Planar plant. There are difficulties with the availability of a number of foreign components, but they are solvable. Already this year we begin to collect applications from potential buyers. We plan to launch the first serial batch in early 2025.

“Obviously, this is a capital-intensive project that cannot be recouped only within the Russian market. Are there any plans to export installations?

— Yes, we are considering the markets of the countries of Southeast Asia for these purposes.

— In your opinion, today, taking into account the current situation, how should the Russian industry develop?

— I think there should be a balanced approach. Russian design centers should try to find a way to develop microelectronics according to topological standards below 65 nm, otherwise unique competencies will be lost. It is important to understand that it is difficult to launch such production in Russia and it will not work in the near future.

The development of serial production of microelectronics using technology of 65 nm and “thicker” at Russian microelectronic factories should become one of the priority areas for the development of the industry.

“There is a lot of talk about technological sovereignty right now. If we talk about microelectronics, where is the minimum to which one should strive?

– Ideally, it is necessary to ensure the possibility of production in Russia of high-level processors with topological standards of 28 nm and below. Currently, there are no critical problems with their production abroad. They are imported into the country, including through parallel imports.

If we talk about the short-term tasks of the development of the industry, then to solve the main problems, it will be enough to master mass production using 65 nm technology. By and large, the components that are present in most electronics comply with the 65-180 nm standards. These are components for automotive electronics, peripheral equipment in telecommunications infrastructure, IoT equipment, solutions for critical information infrastructure.

Interviewed by Nikita Korolev