GAA Fab Process Control (APC) Patent Snapshot 2026
The GAA fab process control (APC) patent corpus is tightly concentrated among three filers — Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Onto Innovation — who collectively hold all 10 patent families in scope. Activity peaked in 2020 and has eased substantially since, signalling a post-peak field that remains technically active but is no longer attracting broad new entrants.
Three applicants hold the entire GAA APC corpus
Applied Materials leads with 5 patent families, followed by Tokyo Electron with 4 and Onto Innovation with 1 — together accounting for every family in the ranked corpus.
The top five filers’ share of the ranked applicants visible in this query stands at 100%, a level of concentration that is extreme even by niche-technology standards. The gap between the leader (5 families) and the third-place holder (1 family) illustrates a two-tier structure with Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron clearly separated from the rest of the field.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Applied Materials, Inc. | 5 | |
| 2 | Tokyo Electron Ltd. | 4 | |
| 3 | Onto Innovation Inc. | 1 |
Applied Materials’ position, grounded in coating and deposition process technology alongside semiconductor device logic, suggests deep vertical integration into APC-relevant process steps. Tokyo Electron’s comparable count, focused on semiconductor device and nanowire/nanosheet transistor classifications, indicates a parallel but distinct technical approach.
Patent publications typically lag filing dates by 18–24 months, so the most recent years in this corpus should be treated as under-counted; apparent absence of activity in 2025–2026 does not necessarily reflect a halt in actual R&D.
A 2020 surge followed by rapid easing; semiconductor device logic dominates the IPC mix
Filing activity burst in 2020 then contracted sharply, while the technology mix is anchored in semiconductor device classifications with secondary coverage in coating, crystal growth, and nanotechnology.
Annual filing trend
The corpus shows negligible activity before 2020, a sharp spike to 8 families in that year, then a stepdown to single-digit annual counts in 2022 and 2023 with no recorded families in 2024–2026. Given standard publication lag, 2024 and later years are likely under-reported and should not be read as zero activity.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01L (semiconductor devices) covers all 10 families and is the visible classification. H10P (nanowire/nanosheet transistors) follows closely, reflecting the structural specificity of GAA architectures. C23C (coating and surface deposition) is the third-largest branch, pointing to APC relevance in atomic-layer and thin-film deposition steps. C30B (crystal growth), H01J (electron and discharge tubes), and B82Y (nanotechnology applications) each represent smaller secondary branches.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Gate all around I/O engineering
Described is a method of manufacturing a gate-all-around electronic device. The method includes forming a thermal oxide layer though an enhanced in situ steam generation process in combination with atomic layer deposition of a low-κ layer. The thin thermal oxide layer passivates the interface between the silicon layer and the dielectric layer of the GAA. A… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 基板处理方法、基板处理装置和纳米线或纳米片的晶体管的制造方法 | 6 |
| 2 | Substrate processing method, substrate processing … | 4 |
| 3 | Gate all around I/O engineering | 2 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Applied Materials
Applied Materials holds 5 patent families, the largest position in this corpus. Their technology focus spans C23C 16 (coating and surface deposition), H01L 21, and H01L 29 — a combination that ties APC directly to deposition process control, a natural fit with their equipment portfolio. Recent filing momentum is classified as a new entrant signal in the most recent window, indicating re-entry or broadening after a gap rather than continuous accumulation.
families: 5Tokyo Electron
Tokyo Electron holds 4 patent families and concentrates its IPC coverage on H01L 21 (semiconductor fabrication process), H10P 14, and H10P 72 — classifications specific to GAA nanowire and nanosheet transistor structures. This positions Tokyo Electron as the leading filer on the structural device side of APC, complementary to but distinct from Applied Materials’ deposition-process emphasis. No recent-window momentum data is available for Tokyo Electron in the evidence.
families: 4Frequently asked questions
The evidence set contains 10 patent families in scope for GAA fab process control and APC.
Applied Materials leads with 5 patent families, followed by Tokyo Electron with 4 and Onto Innovation with 1. These three applicants account for the entire ranked corpus.
Annual filing activity peaked in 2020 with 8 families recorded in that year. Activity dropped to 1 family in both 2022 and 2023, with no recorded families in subsequent years — though publication lag means recent years are likely under-counted.
The United States leads with 4 patent records, followed by China and Taiwan with 2 each, Japan with 1, and WIPO (PCT) with 1. Coverage is selective rather than globally broad.
H01L (semiconductor devices) is the visible branch covering all 10 families, with H10P (nanowire/nanosheet transistors) and C23C (coating and surface deposition) also strongly represented. B82Y (nanotechnology applications) is the sparsest branch, appearing in only 2 families.
No co-applicant pairs are detected in the evidence for this corpus. Both visible assignees appear to be pursuing independent proprietary IP strategies.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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