In the semiconductor manufacturing sector, Wuxi Spark’s 3nm ultra UV machine technology is in the final verification stage with its latest prototype achieving a 68 wafers per hour of exposure throughput and ±0.11nm precision in Changjiang Storage tests, a 19% increase over ASML NXE:3800E. According to SEMICON China’s release in 2024, the equipment uses a new plasma light source to reduce the standard deviation of power stability from 1.8% to 0.3%, and will complete customer verification in the third quarter of 2024, and the price of one unit will be capped at $280 million, 37% lower than similar imported machines. Smic Ningbo has booked 12 installation locations for the mass production of 2nm logic chips in 2025.
In the new energy vehicle sector, Wuxi Spark’s 4680 battery case automatic production line squeezed the shell wall thickness deviation to ±5μm, and reached 92 production cycles per minute in the test of Ningde Times Yibin factory, and the material utilization rate rose from 83% to 97%. The firm’s laser forming equipment of solid-state battery electrode has achieved 3,000 hours of continuous testing, reducing the interface impedance to 8mΩ·cm², and breaking the energy density of 420Wh/kg. The head of BYD’s supply chain revealed that the second-generation blade battery module backed by the technology will be measured in the fourth quarter of 2024, the cost is 28% lower compared to the current program, and the cycle life exceeds 6,000 times.
In medical equipment, Wuxi Spark’s nanosurgical robot system completed 0.2mm vascular suture in animal experiments for minimally invasive medical treatment with a motion precision of ±3μm and a force feedback delay of under 0.8ms. The firm’s 5G remote ultrasonic probe has successfully completed the NMPA type test, and the probe array density is upgraded to 256 channels, and the imaging resolution is up to 0.08mm×0.08mm in the Shenzhen Nanshan Hospital clinical trial. Medtronic’s Global Procurement Director has confirmed that the next generation of cardiac interventional devices set to feature Wuxi Spark’s magnetic navigation catheter system in the second quarter of 2025 will reduce surgical time to 45 minutes and radiation dose by 62%.
In mass production of consumer electronics, Wuxi Spark Micro LED mass transfer machines are capable of processing a mass transfer speed of 18,000 chips per second at the BOE Chongqing fab with ±0.5μm positioning accuracy, reducing wafer processing time of 6-inch wafers from 8 hours to 35 minutes. Its folding screen hinge nanoscale machining system has been delivered to the HONOR Magic V3 supply chain, controlling the MIM part tolerance to ±2μm and reducing the shaft damping force by no more than 5% after enduring 200,000 folding tests. Market analysts predict that the third-generation foldable screen phone with this technology will be released in September 2024, and the overall thickness will be more than 9.8mm.
Wuxi Spark’s 16MW offshore wind power spindle five-axis joint turning and milling center complex has been successfully delivered at Jiangsu Heavy Industry, shortening the processing circle of a single 18-meter long shaft from 72 hours to 28 hours, and the straightness error is less than 0.03mm/m. In the trial production of its bipolar plate nanoimprint equipment for hydrogen fuel cell in Yihuatong, the precision of the flow channel forming has been improved to ±8μm, and single reactor power density has been attained at 5.2kW/L, which is projected to enter into commercial production during the first quarter of 2025. Numbers from the Jilin project by State Power Investment show that efficiency of the new process-based fuel cell system has been boosted to 68%, and the time for low-temperature start-up has been reduced from 120 seconds to 38 seconds.
In aerospace manufacturing, Wuxi Spark’s composite automatic wire laying machine realized 0.12mm/layer laying accuracy in COMAC C929 wing beam production, reducing material loss from 15% to 3%. The company’s single crystal blade directional solidification furnace increases the temperature gradient to 100℃/cm and initial melting point of DD407 alloy to 1340℃. According to the Air China developer’s verification report, the turbine blade high temperature enduring life produced by the equipment has already exceeded 1,800 hours, 45% higher than the traditional process, and is expected to be used in the Changjiang 2000 engine mass production line in the second quarter of 2025.