For years, China depended entirely on the West for high-energy hydrogen ion implanters for its semiconductor endeavors. However, all that is set to change.
In a significant advancement in semiconductor manufacturing technology, China has announced their first domestically produced high-energy hydrogen ion implanter. To those unfamiliar with the technology, an ion implanter is a critical piece of equipment used to embed dopant ions into silicon wafers, which is a process essential for producing modern chips.
On Saturday, the China Institute of Atomic Energy proudly announced the launch of the country’s very first high-energy hydrogen ion implanter, dubbed the POWER-750H. They claim that its performance is on par with the best international standards out there.
“For a long time, China had relied entirely on imports for high-energy hydrogen ion implanters, with foreign technological barriers and market monopolies restricting domestic progress in this field,” the institute said.
“Drawing on decades of expertise in nuclear physics and accelerator technology, the China Institute of Atomic Energy leveraged tandem accelerator technology to … achieve full independent design capability – from fundamental principles to complete system integration – for tandem-type high-energy hydrogen ion implanters.
“The successful domestic development of … [the] implanters strengthens China’s self-reliance in the semiconductor industry.”
The ion implanter is considered one of the “four core pieces of equipment” in semiconductor fabrication, alongside photolithography systems, etching machinery, and thin-film deposition tools — technologies long dominated by Western and Japanese suppliers. China’s achievement follows years of state-backed efforts to build a self-sufficient semiconductor ecosystem, which has accelerated in response to U.S. export controls that restricted Beijing’s access to advanced chips and manufacturing equipment.
According to state media, the POWER-750H machine has reached performance levels comparable to foreign imports and represents a breakthrough in overcoming historical dependence on overseas suppliers. The development was made possible by leveraging decades of nuclear accelerator research and indicates mastery of the full research and development chain for this class of equipment.
China’s push to build indigenous semiconductor tools is part of a broader strategy to achieve technological autonomy and insulate its supply chain from external pressures. Authorities recently introduced a policy requiring local chipmakers to use at least 50% domestically produced equipment when building or expanding manufacturing capacity, a rule that aims to accelerate the adoption of Chinese tools even where foreign alternatives still exist.
The dominance of U.S., Dutch, and Japanese equipment suppliers, especially in advanced lithography and implant processes, has long underpinned global chip production. As China fills gaps in its domestic toolset, competitors worry that reduced dependence on Western technology could weaken the impact of export controls designed to slow Chinese advances in critical areas such as AI and defense electronics.
China still lags the West in extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) and other cutting-edge manufacturing technologies, and domestic efforts to replicate or innovate in those fields are ongoing. Chip production requires an incredible level of precision and stability, especially when it comes to ion implanters. This means managing a variety of parameters down to the nanometer or even atomic level.
However, successes with tools like the POWER-750H demonstrate that export restrictions have not fully halted China’s ability to build critical components of a modern semiconductor ecosystem.