Photoresists
Light-sensitive polymer formulations that carry chip patterns from mask to wafer; a $2.9 billion niche dominated by Japanese makers and vital to every node.
Specialty chemicals · Electronic chemicals · No. 72
- Product family
- not published; a few tens of thousands of tonnes including solvent at most (indicative)
- 5.0 t CO₂e per t
- HS 370790
No chip can be patterned without a light-sensitive film, and a few Japanese firms make most of the advanced ones.
Chart: Illustration: Photoresists
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Specialty polymers and photoacid generators made from petrochemicals are dissolved in solvents and filtered, then matched to scanner light from 436 nm down to 13.5 nm.
Three things to know
- Each scanner generation needs its own chemistry, from i-line at 365 nm down to EUV at 13.5 nm.
- In April 2026 Japanese resist makers warned of shortages because over 40% of their naphtha came from the Middle East.
- Positive-tone resists made up 71.51% of market value in 2025.
The journey
- 1 PetrochemicalsNaphtha-derived acrylates, hydroxystyrenes and cresols
- 2 Polymers, PAGsResins plus light-triggered acid generators
- 3 FormulationDissolved in solvents such as PGMEA, filtered
- 4 Cold shippingSmall bottles, often refrigerated, by air
- 5 LithographySpun on wafers to carry chip patterns