Specification Clarification: In this release, "12-inch" refers to round carriers of approx. Φ300mm, serving standard round-substrate fabs. "310×310mm" denotes square sapphire carriers of 310mm side length, mainly for square-wafer processes, specialty substrates and irregular-shape machining. The two are different formats, not interchangeable, not additive — and "12-inch = 310mm" is not a valid equivalence.

1. Background: As Wafers Get Thinner, Carriers Matter More

Deep in the precision machining chain of semiconductor and optoelectronic manufacturing sits a component rarely in the spotlight, yet present at the birth of nearly every ultra-thin substrate — the temporary carrier (carrier / transfer substrate).

When a substrate is thinned below 50μm, and further to 20μm or less, it can no longer withstand the stress of grinding, dicing, handling and bonding. Temporary bonding is required: the ultra-thin wafer is "mounted" onto a rigid carrier, and "de-bonded" only after backside thinning, etching and metallization are complete. The carrier is the backbone of the ultra-thin wafer throughout its entire process cycle.

Among carrier materials, sapphire (α-Al₂O₃ single crystal) is becoming a material of choice for high-end applications. It combines high rigidity, excellent optical transparency, wear and corrosion resistance, and strong chemical stability, with the potential for repeated cleaning and re-use — a clear advantage in lifecycle cost. Glass carriers still lead in CTE matching and upfront cost, but trail sapphire in transmission wavelength, wear cycles and tolerance of extreme processes. Sapphire and glass are forming a "dual-route" pattern in the mid-to-high-end market.

2. Industry Developments in the Past Six Months (April – October 2026)

Note on sourcing: Temporary carriers sit at the intersection of consumables and equipment in the mid-stream supply chain, where independent market statistics and third-party certified data are scarce. The following developments are based on corporate official releases, exhibition disclosures and industry association information; claims that could not be cross-verified are explicitly marked.

● April · SEMICON China 2026 (Shanghai): Tiantong showcased large-format sapphire carriers, with public information pointing to simultaneous advancement of Φ300mm round carriers and 310×310mm square substrates — a clear signal that large-format is now the industry's primary battleground.

● May · China Semiconductor Industry Association events (CSPT, etc.): Technical discussion around "ultra-thin wafer processing and temporary bonding" continued to intensify. A consensus emerged: 8-inch carriers are approaching saturation; 12-inch (Φ300mm) is moving from "sample validation" to "small-batch adoption"; and 310×310mm square carriers are breaking through first in the specialty-substrate segment.

● Recent · Volume-production breakthroughs at the industrial level: Several sapphire material and equipment companies disclosed volume progress on large-format temporary carriers. Notably, per TIANJING's official statement: 12-inch wafer temporary carriers have entered volume production, and 310×310×1.5mm large-format sapphire temporary carriers have achieved a volume-production breakthrough — marking a key step toward full in-house control of the "material + equipment" chain for domestic sapphire carriers.

3. Frontier Applications: What Is Driving Sapphire Carriers?

Trend judgments (not established facts; for reference):

1. Format upgrade: 8-inch → 12-inch, in step with fab-line upgrades.

2. Thickness reduction: Carrier body trending toward 1.0–1.5mm to free up machining allowance.

3. Precision leap: Bow/Warp requirements entering the ≤50μm range; TTV converging toward ≤10μm.

4. Reuse economy: Unit cost amortized over repeated cleaning cycles — "recyclability" becoming a core procurement metric.

5. Domestic substitution: Full-chain self-reliance — from material to lapping/polishing equipment — taking shape as an industrial cluster in the Yangtze River Delta.

4. Key Parameters: The Hard Metrics of a Good Carrier

5. Landscape and Implications

The current sapphire temporary-carrier market shows a pattern of "international vendors holding the high end, domestic vendors catching up fast." Japanese and U.S. vendors retain advantages in ultra-high precision and long-term reliability. Chinese vendors, leveraging full-chain capability in sapphire crystal growth, oriented slicing, lapping & polishing, and cleaning/regeneration — plus faster response times closer to domestic fabs — are breaking through on both the 12-inch and 310-square fronts simultaneously.

Three implications for the industry:

● Carrier competition has shifted from "can we make it?" to "can we produce it stably, and can it be recycled?"

● The explosion of downstream applications (AI compute, Micro-LED, AR optics) will push carriers into a new stage of "precision competition."

● The breakthrough point for domestic substitution lies in "material + equipment" synergy — only by mastering crystal growth and precision machining equipment can cost and lead time truly be controlled in-house.

6. TIANJING: Making China's Dimensions Larger

As a material and equipment enterprise with over a decade of deep expertise in sapphire, TIANJING's layout in large-format sapphire temporary carriers moves in lockstep with industry trends.

✅ Products in volume production

🔧 Technical foundation

● Backed by over ten years of sapphire crystal-growth process expertise, controlling dislocation density and crystal quality at the material source.

● Backed by ten years of in-house equipment manufacturing, mastering the full process chain of oriented slicing, lapping, polishing and cleaning/regeneration — a "material + equipment" dual-engine model.

● Focused on three directions: large format, ultra-thin, low warp — serving ultra-thin substrate processing including wafer thinning, dicing, polishing and bonding.

📊 Capacity & parameters (pending corporate confirmation)

The following are placeholders for a news release. Must be verified internally before publication. Fabrication is strictly prohibited.

🌐 Application value

TIANJING's large-format sapphire temporary carriers serve:

● AI compute & advanced packaging — rigid support for ultra-thin wafers

● Optical comms & silicon photonics — leveraging sapphire's optical-transmission advantage for opto-electric协同 processes

● Micro-LED / Mini-LED — supporting ultra-thin substrate processing ahead of mass transfer

● AR optics & waveguides — meeting optical-grade substrate requirements with high flatness and low TTV

● Power devices & RF — withstanding high-temperature and plasma-etch environments

From 12-inch to 310 large-format square, from material to equipment — full-chain self-reliance. This is the answer TIANJING Equipment gives on the sapphire path, drawn from fifteen years of process accumulation and a decade of equipment self-manufacturing.

Going forward, TIANJING will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners across the industry chain — to make China's dimensions larger, finer, and stronger.