Russian Federal Nuclear Center Developing New Semiconductor Manufacturing System
The Russian Federal Nuclear Center – All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF) has received a contract from Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop an automated wet chemical etching system for semiconductor wafers.
The contract is worth RUB 1.43 billion (about $16.8 million). Research and development work on the Spray project is scheduled for completion in November 2029.
Full-Cycle Wafer Processing
The system will perform chemical etching, cleaning, rinsing and drying of semiconductor wafers up to 200 millimeters in diameter. It will process as many as 100 wafers per cycle and automatically load and unload them without operator involvement.
Wet chemical etching is one of the key stages in semiconductor manufacturing. Chemical reagents remove layers of material from a wafer’s surface to form the structures used in electronic components. The precision of this process directly affects the characteristics of finished chips. Such equipment must operate in clean manufacturing environments with minimal human presence.
No domestically produced equivalent of this system is currently available. Russian microelectronics manufacturers rely on foreign equipment whose supply is restricted. Developing a domestic system would reduce semiconductor fabs’ dependence on overseas suppliers.
Russian Controller and Software
A key IT component of the project is the development of a domestic control system for the equipment. Both the central controller and software will be Russian-developed. The reagent delivery systems, process chamber and several other critical components are also required to be domestically produced.
The software will manage the sequence of operations, chemical composition, temperature settings and processing times. The controller will track process parameters in real time and maintain repeatable results from one cycle to the next. The system will automatically record all processing parameters for each wafer for subsequent analysis.
For electronics manufacturers, this will make it possible to maintain, upgrade and adapt the equipment themselves to their own manufacturing processes.
Building the Technology Chain
The Spray project complements several other Russian efforts to develop semiconductor manufacturing equipment. In July 2026, the same RFNC-VNIIEF received a contract worth nearly RUB 993 million (about $11.7 million) under the Dentist project to develop semiconductor wafer bonding and debonding systems. Their controllers, control boards and software will also be made in Russia.
Lithography technology is advancing as well. In September 2025, ZNTC completed development of Russia’s first domestically produced photolithography system with 350-nanometer resolution and moved on to preparations for serial production. In July 2026, prototype Russian electron-beam lithography equipment designed for 150-nanometer process nodes was unveiled. The equipment is intended for use in power electronics, automotive electronics and industrial systems.
In March 2025, NIITM unveiled Russia’s first domestically produced cluster plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system for 300-millimeter wafers. It incorporates robotic wafer handling, a proprietary control system and software.
A chemical etching system alone will not solve the problem of dependence on foreign equipment. A complete semiconductor manufacturing cycle requires lithography, thin-film deposition, etching, cleaning, metrology, ion implantation and other types of equipment. Only simultaneous progress across all these areas can increase the share of Russian-made systems in the microelectronics manufacturing chain by the end of the decade.
Global Context and Development Timeline
The Russian government views the development of its domestic semiconductor equipment industry as one of the prerequisites for technological independence. In 2023, authorities said more than RUB 240 billion (about $2.8 billion) would be allocated to this area through 2030. The RFNC-VNIIEF contract is part of that program.
The contract calls for research and development work to continue through the end of 2029. Development, manufacturing and testing of the equipment still lie ahead. By the end of the decade, Russia could substantially increase the share of domestically produced equipment in its semiconductor manufacturing chain. Over time, that could also help establish an export niche in countries developing semiconductor industries of their own.
