Japan secures competitive advantage with new technology in manufacturing "crystal parts" and development over 10 years | New Switch by Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun
The manufacturing technology of crystal parts that control the movement of electronic devices has entered a new stage. In the past, production by machining was the mainstream, but Japanese crystal makers have developed mass production technology for making smaller and thinner crystals than before by utilizing semiconductor manufacturing methods over the past 10 years. It is said that it is difficult to make crystal parts for 5th generation communication (5G) compatible smartphones other than the new manufacturing method. Overseas companies such as Taiwan, which had been attacking with low-priced products, have not succeeded in mass production with the new manufacturing method, and Japanese companies have regained their competitive advantage through technology. (Kunikazu Yamada)
"Industrial salt"
Crystal parts create reference signals for other parts to move accurately inside smartphones, electronic control units (ECUs) of automobiles, watches, and so on. It utilizes the property of trembling when a voltage is applied to a crystal unit with electrodes attached to a piece of crystal, and is called "industrial salt" because it is indispensable for many devices.
Crystal oscillators are mainly manufactured by machining such as cutting and polishing. However, Japanese manufacturers have also been working on the development of a new mass production technology called "photolithography blank processing".
Photolithography processing is an indispensable technology in the manufacture of semiconductors. After overlaying a metal film or photosensitive agent on the surface of a disk-shaped plate cut out from artificial quartz, a small crystal piece is formed by applying the exposure technique of photography.
It was more than 10 years ago that Nihon Dempa Kogyo, a major crystal specialist, started development with "the demand for miniaturization of smartphone parts other than batteries is increasing" (Ken Takeuchi, executive officer). It was mass-produced about five years ago, but with 4G smartphones, "machined products also meet the parts specifications, and the superiority of photolithographic processed products was not high" (same as above).
60% ultra-compact
The tide changed in 2020, when 5G smartphones began to spread. In order to cope with high frequencies, it was necessary to reduce the thickness of the crystal unit to about 0.5 mm-0.6 mm, and at the same time, to reduce the size by about 60% or more compared to about 1 mm square and 4G. Hiromi Kato, president of Nihon Dempa Kogyo, said, "Although it can be produced by machining, the yield is poor and it is not profitable." To date, the company and Daishinku have announced that they have been certified for 5G smartphones by major semiconductor companies.
The specifications of crystal parts have been standardized since smartphones became the mainstream of mobile phones, and overseas manufacturers such as Taiwan TCX entered the market at low prices. The performance of Japanese manufacturers has deteriorated.
However, photolithography processing is a mass of know-how such as processing uniform quartz plates with little variation and growing high-purity artificial quartz, and it seems that Japanese companies will be able to maintain their leading advantage for a while.
Business opportunity for the first time in 20 years
The average large-lot price of the crystal oscillators at the moment is around 15 yen per piece, which is about 15% higher than the same period of the previous year. Some domestic crystal makers are approaching business opportunities for the first time in about 20 years since the early 2000s, when they boasted high competitiveness for conventional mobile phones (feature phones).
Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun June 21, 2021