Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) Slurry Market Size

Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) Market Analysis

The global chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) slurry market is valued at USD 1.56 billion in 2023. It is expected to reach USD 2.13 billion in 2028, witnessing a CAGR of 6.43% during the forecast period.

The growing technological advancements in fabrication and semiconductor processes, mainly to enhance the performance of the semiconductor, are expected to boost the market's growth. Increasing investment in semiconductor wafer fabrication materials by manufacturers for product innovation is primarily driving market growth.

• The growing demand for semiconductors and memory chips in markets, including the Internet of Things (IoT), automotive, and 5G, is expected to drive the demand for CMP slurries during the forecast period. The growing adoption of electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles creates a huge demand for semiconductors and ICs, which is projected to drive the market for CMP slurry.
• Due to the growing demand for power semiconductors with accelerated digitalization and electrification, Infineon Technologies opened a new high-tech chip factory for power electronics on 300 mm thin wafers at Villach, Austria. Such active efforts by key vendors in the semiconductor and memory market are anticipated to boost the demand for CMP slurry in the coming years.
• The market's growth is driven by the commercialization of 5G mobile communications systems, which increases the need for data centers/mobile terminals, and the development of high-performance semiconductors due to technological innovation in fields such as artificial intelligence/autonomous driving. As a result, the CMP players are expected to grow as the semiconductor memories move from 2D to 3D structures, and the complexity of the transistor structures, including finely-pitched semiconductor logic circuits, increases.
• Aluminum oxide is the most adopted slurry material in the market, whereas cerium oxide slurries are witnessing a substantial growth rate owing to their application in silicon wafers. CMP processes for advanced logic and memory devices require more varied, non-metal layer combinations that need highly tunable and dilutable CMP slurries to achieve both technical and economic objectives. Therefore, growing multilayer characteristics are forcing the market vendors to offer multi-material polishing, tunable selectivity, and low defects. However, high investment and R&D costs, along with frequent changes in process, are some of the major factors restraining the market growth.
• As per SEMI, soaring pandemic-inspired demand for chips was estimated to drive an 8% increase in global fab equipment spending in 2020 and a 13% increase in 2021. Of all chip sectors, memory witnessed the largest spending increase in 2020, growing USD 3.7 billion, or 16% year-over-year (Y-o-Y), to USD 26.4 billion. The trend also continued in the post-pandemic era, with global fab equipment spending for front-end facilities estimated to increase approximately 9% year-over-year (Y-O-Y) to reach a new all-time high of USD 99 billion in 2022. The SEMI World Fab Forecast report published in September 2022 showed a global capacity increase approaching 8% in 2022, reaching 7.7%, after a 7.4% growth in 2021. Overall, the increasing demand for semiconductor components is expected to significantly aid the demand for CMP slurries in the coming years.