GoKawiilJiangsu Pacific Quartz clears CXMT qualification for chipmaking components
Chinese high-purity quartz maker Jiangsu Pacific Quartz, which already supplies furnace tubes and wafer boats to Lam Research and Tokyo Electron, has had its quartz components certified by a Chinese DRAM producer believed to be CXMT for 300mm wafer production. The materials meet the 4N5–5N purity level needed for semiconductor process equipment, giving China a more domestic supply chain for chipmaking consumables.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
This strengthens China's chip equipment supply chain against export controls, but it doesn't solve the harder problem of growing silicon ingots themselves, which require ultra-pure fused quartz crucibles above 5N purity that only Spruce Pine-based Sibelco and The Quartz Corp, plus limited Russian output, can currently supply at scale. Until China can produce crucible-grade quartz domestically, its chipmakers remain dependent on foreign sources for the most critical step of wafer fabrication.
- Pacific Quartz's quartz components passed qualification with a Chinese DRAM maker likely CXMT for 300mm production.
- The company already supplies equipment-grade quartz consumables to Lam Research and Tokyo Electron since 2019-2020.
- China still lacks domestic access to ultra-high-purity crucible quartz, which remains dominated by Spruce Pine, North Carolina producers.
Chip War by Chris Miller — If this story about quartz chokepoints and semiconductor supply chains hooked you, Chris Miller's Chip War is the perfect deep dive. It traces how a handful of regions and companies came to control the materials and machines the whole chip industry depends on — exactly the dynamic playing out between Spruce Pine and China's domestic quartz push.
See Chip War by Chris Miller on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: tomshardware.com — Anton Shilov, 2026-09-10
Published there as: “Chinese quartz approved for semiconductor equipment and DRAM manufacturing, but it still can't break America's monopoly — China secures domestic supply for chipmaking components, but Spruce Pine still holds the crucible monopoly”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.