Breaking Through at the Micron Level: China's Independent Advancement in Precision Semiconductor Handling Equipment

As the global semiconductor industry accelerates toward advanced 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer processes, a single chip undergoes hundreds of manufacturing steps from raw silicon to final packaging, with each wafer being transferred dozens of times across various process chambers. As a critical link connecting the entire production flow, the precision, stability, and cleanliness of wafer handling directly determine the final chip yield and have become one of the key bottlenecks in domestic high-end chip manufacturing. For years, core equipment in this field has been dominated by overseas suppliers. However, the rapid rise of Huzhou Prim Semiconductor Co., Ltd. is now transforming this landscape. 

From Lab to Production Line: The Breakthrough Journey of China's Emerging Innovators 

Huzhou Prim Semiconductor, formerly Ningbo Prim Semiconductor, was established in 2023 and officially relocated to the Xihu Science and Technology Park in Changxing, Huzhou, by the end of 2024. Its core R&D team originates from the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. From its inception, the company has focused on the most critical segment in semiconductor technology—nanoscale ultra-precision motion control—and dedicated itself to independently developing core equipment for the entire wafer processing workflow. In just three years, this young enterprise has built a comprehensive product portfolio covering wafer handling, motion control, and positioning calibration. Its key products include wafer-handling robots, nanometer-level precision motion stages, wafer alignment and calibration platforms, and ceramic wafer forks. In 2025, the company surpassed 60 million yuan in revenue, with R&D investment accounting for over 20% of total expenditure. It has already supplied core equipment to more than thirty domestic equipment manufacturers, serving leading semiconductor companies such as SMIC and Shanghai Silicon Industry Group, establishing itself as a rising force that cannot be overlooked in China's domestic semiconductor precision equipment industry. 

Faced with nanometer-level requirements for wafer handling in advanced manufacturing processes, Prim has achieved full-chain independent innovation—from core components to system solutions—delivering technological breakthroughs in each key product that address industry pain points. 

Wafer Handling Robot: The Precise Dancer in the Cleanroom 

Wafer handling robots serve as the "hands" of semiconductor production lines, required to transfer wafers dozens of times per hour in an ultra-clean ISO Class 1 environment. They must achieve micrometer-level repeatability while strictly controlling particle contamination, vibration, and outgassing—any minor error could result in the entire batch being scrapped. Prim's wafer handling robots offer modular solutions tailored to various application scenarios, supporting full-size wafers from 4 inches to 12 inches. Featuring multi-degree-of-freedom joint designs combined with high-precision servo control, they deliver repeat positioning accuracy within ±0.01 mm. Pollution risks are minimized at the material source: core structural components use low-outgassing aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, and joint bearings employ solid lubrication to meet requirements for ultra-high vacuum environments up to 10⁻⁷ Pa, preventing organic volatile compounds from contaminating wafers. Equipped with a self-developed dynamic motion planning algorithm, the robots keep vibration amplitudes at the micrometer level during operation, ensuring both high efficiency and protection against surface layer damage caused by vibration. These systems have successfully replaced imported products and are now deployed across multiple domestic advanced manufacturing lines. 

Precision Motion Stage: The Foundation of Nanometer-Level Motion 

If robotic arms are the hands for handling, precision motion stages serve as the foundation supporting the entire wafer processing workflow. Whether in lithography, etching, or deposition processes, motion stages must provide stable support and nanometer-level position control. Advanced manufacturing processes now demand positioning accuracy within 30 nanometers—equivalent to one-twentieth of a human hair's diameter. Leveraging its self-developed air-floating hydrostatic technology and nano-interference feedback compensation system, Prim has created ultra-high-precision air-bearing motion stages achieving positioning accuracy as high as 30 nanometers and repeat positioning accuracy of 35 nanometers, breaking through the precision limitations of traditional mechanical transmission systems. 

Traditional precision motion stages use ball screw drives, which inevitably involve mechanical clearance and wear, leading to gradual accuracy degradation over prolonged operation. In contrast, Prim's air-bearing motion stages employ hydrostatic air bearings that eliminate mechanical contact during movement, thereby removing friction and wear while fundamentally reducing particle generation. Combined with a dual-grating closed-loop feedback system, these stages continuously correct positional deviations in real time, significantly enhancing anti-interference capability and enabling long-term maintenance of nanometer-level precision even in complex production environments. Currently, Prim's precision motion stages are available in various configurations including single-axis, dual-axis, and multi-axis systems, suitable for applications such as lithography machines, wafer inspection equipment, and bonding devices. Some products have already met the technical requirements of advanced 7nm process nodes. 

Wafer Alignment Stage: The Coordinate Calibrator Before Process 

Before entering the process chamber, wafers must undergo center alignment and orientation positioning via a wafer aligner (pre-aligner) to establish a standardized coordinate reference for subsequent processes. If the alignment error exceeds the allowable range, it can lead to lithography overlay deviations, directly resulting in wafer scrap. Primus's wafer aligner employs an optical edge scanning method combined with precision motion control, supporting both notch and flat-based positioning modes. It enables automatic alignment for wafers ranging from 3 inches to 18 inches, achieving an alignment accuracy of within ±5 microns, meeting the requirements of most front-end manufacturing processes. 

The alignment stage employs a non-contact optical detection solution, where the wafer is mounted on a vacuum chuck and rotated. A high-precision CCD sensor scans the wafer's edge profile, and geometric circle fitting algorithms rapidly calculate deviations in center coordinates and angle. Compensation parameters are then output to the handling robot for secondary correction. The entire alignment process takes only a few seconds, achieving a balance between accuracy and efficiency. Stable detection is supported for wafers of various materials, including silicon wafers, glass substrates, and quartz masks. The system is available in both standalone and embedded configurations, meeting integration requirements across different production lines. 

Ceramic Tile Fork: Innovative Details in Direct Contact 

The ceramic wafer fork is a core component that directly contacts the wafer in robotic handling. Though seemingly simple, it directly determines the safety of wafer transportation. Traditional metal forks not only have high hardness and can easily scratch wafers, but also tend to generate metallic particle contamination. On the other hand, polymer materials lack sufficient hardness and stability to meet high-precision requirements. In advanced manufacturing processes, ceramic materials are widely used for wafer forks. Prim's ceramic wafer forks are made from high-purity alumina ceramic through precision machining, offering advantages such as high hardness, low friction, and no metal contamination. Additionally, the low thermal expansion characteristics of ceramic materials ensure dimensional stability under temperature fluctuations, preventing handling deviations caused by thermal deformation. 

To meet the handling requirements for wafers of different sizes, Prim has optimized the dimensions and shape of ceramic wafer forks. By minimizing contact area while maintaining structural strength, the design reduces backside obstruction and contamination of wafers. The low friction coefficient ensures smooth wafer loading and unloading, preventing scratches and damage. For large 12-inch wafers, structural optimization further reduces the fork's self-weight, lowering the robotic arm's motion load and enhancing overall handling stability. 

The Domestic Path Toward the Future 

Currently, the global semiconductor industry is undergoing a structural transformation, and self-reliance in core equipment has become a widely accepted consensus. For advanced manufacturing processes, the more specialized and critical the component, the more likely it becomes a target for technological restrictions. Huzhou Primus entered the market by focusing on key components in wafer handling. Through continuous R&D investment, the company has gradually broken overseas manufacturers' technological monopolies. Not only has it achieved domestic substitution of products, but it has also established a complete capability chain spanning research, development, and production, providing a vivid example for the advancement of domestically produced semiconductor equipment. 

By 2025, Prim has established a research and development and production base in Wuxi and Huzhou with a total area exceeding 10,000 square meters. The ultra-precision equipment manufacturing project in Yandu Economic Development Zone has also commenced construction, with an expected annual sales revenue surpassing 80 million yuan upon full production. As advanced processes continue to advance toward smaller nodes, the precision requirements for wafer handling equipment will keep rising. Local innovative enterprises like Prim are continuously breaking through at the micron level, laying solid foundations of detail for the self-reliance and controllability of the entire semiconductor industry.