Semiconductor Photoresist

What photoresist is

Photoresist is the light-sensitive chemistry that transfers a circuit pattern onto a wafer. In a foundry, resist is coated onto a semiconductor wafer, exposed to light through a mask, and developed so that only the wanted pattern remains; that pattern is then etched or deposited into the wafer, and the resist is stripped away. Jingrui defines it in its filing as the medium for micro-fabrication pattern transfer, made of a film-forming agent, a photosensitiser, a solvent and additives, and calls it the key material of micro-fabrication technology (2026 interim report, p. 5). Every lithography step consumes a fresh coat, so resist is a recurring consumable sold to semiconductor foundries, not a one-off tool.

The technology ladder

Resists are graded by the light they are exposed with, and shorter wavelengths print smaller features. Mature g-line and i-line resists serve larger, older nodes and are a volume commodity business. KrF deep-ultraviolet resist serves the mature-to-midrange nodes where most Chinese foundry capacity sits. ArF resist, exposed at 193nm, is the advanced product: Nanda's filing defines it as the key material for integrated circuit production at 90nm and below, usable at 90nm to 14nm and even smaller nodes (2026 interim report, p. 8). Beyond ArF sits EUV resist, the next step for leading-edge nodes. Neither of the two Chinese listed specialists in this node discloses an EUV product, which marks the current frontier of the gap.

Where China stands

China's position splits by rung. At the mature end, supply is domestic and scaled: Jingrui's Ruihong unit has close to 100 photoresist products in volume production across ultraviolet broadband, g-line and i-line series, and says its ultraviolet broadband and i-line series have held a leading domestic market share for years (Jingrui pp. 10, 14). Its deep-ultraviolet business is growing fast from a small base: photoresist revenue was ¥121.90m in the first half of 2026, up 15.15% at a 44.71% gross margin, with i-line sales up nearly 30%, KrF volume up more than 40% and ArF sales up nearly 300% year on year, though the company notes the ArF base in 2025 was low and that KrF and ArF revenue overall is still small (2026 interim report, pp. 16, 19, 25).

Nanda Optoelectronic is one step behind on the same ladder. Its ArF resist, made by its Ningbo unit with in-house monomer, resin and photoinitiator capability, grew sales 48% year on year in the first half of 2026, while KrF products are still in development and validation and a 70 tonne per year KrF line is under construction (Nanda pp. 13, 17). Its photoresist project funded by the 2021 share placement was closed having missed its expected benefit, which the company attributes to changes in customer validation needs and weaker than expected market expansion (pp. 25, 26). That history is the honest counterweight to the ArF growth rate: qualification at a foundry is slow, and a resist that has not passed it earns nothing however good the chemistry looks in the lab.

The demand side is not the constraint. Industry data cited by Jingrui put the Chinese photoresist market at ¥19.806bn in 2025, up 23.2%, with the integrated circuit segment at ¥6.637bn, display at ¥7.897bn and printed circuit boards at ¥5.272bn; the global market was US$7.301bn in 2025, forecast to reach US$10.86bn by 2032 (Jingrui pp. 11, 12). The foreign incumbents still hold the advanced end: Nanda's filing says the core technology of high-end photoresist has long been held by a small number of foreign makers (Nanda p. 32). China is therefore not short of resist in general; it is short of qualified advanced resist, and the two companies here are attacking that gap from opposite ends, Jingrui from volume and Nanda from ArF first.

What to watch

Three things decide whether this node closes its gap. First, whether Jingrui's ArF bulk deliveries turn into repeat volume orders rather than one-off batches, and whether its KrF line keeps its 40% plus growth rate as the base grows. Second, whether Nanda's 70 tonne KrF line completes and its KrF products pass customer validation, after a previous photoresist project already missed its targets. Third, whether either company discloses an EUV programme at all: until one does, the top of the ladder remains entirely imported.

Our view: photoresist is the most honest test of Chinese chip self-reliance because it cannot be fudged with capacity announcements. A resist either passes a foundry's qualification or it does not, and the filings show both companies still in the passing stage at the advanced end. Jingrui has the better near-term story, volume plus margin plus growth on every rung it sells; Nanda has the steeper climb, with ArF momentum to prove and a missed project on its record. Watch repeat orders, not growth percentages off small bases.