Nanosheet Fab APC (GAA) Patent Snapshot 2026
The nanosheet fab advanced process control (gate-all-around) patent space is highly concentrated, with three filers accounting for the entire ranked corpus and Applied Materials holding a commanding position. Activity peaked sharply in 2020 and has since eased, signalling that foundational IP was established early and the field is now entering a quieter, post-peak phase.
Applied Materials leads a three-player field with no outside challengers yet visible
Applied Materials Inc ranks first with 5 patent families, followed by Tokyo Electron Ltd with 4 and Onto Innovation Inc with 1 — together they represent 100% of the top hundred filers’ combined total, meaning no other organisation has yet established a meaningful filing footprint in this niche.
The tier gap between first and second place is narrow in absolute terms, but Applied Materials’ lead across both process-equipment (C23C coating/deposition) and device-level (H01L) classes gives it broader technical coverage than Tokyo Electron, which is more concentrated in device and H10P transistor classes.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Applied Materials Inc | 5 | |
| 2 | Tokyo Electron Ltd | 4 | |
| 3 | Onto Innovation Inc | 1 |
With only three identifiable assignees and the entire corpus spanning 10 patent families, the space remains accessible to new entrants who can differentiate on process-control methodology or metrology, particularly for GAA nanosheet integration flows.
Patent publication typically lags filing by 18–24 months, so activity in 2024–2025 may be under-represented in this corpus and the apparent absence of recent filings should not be interpreted as a definitive halt in R&D.
A sharp 2020 peak, a sparse technology mix, and an adjacent nanotechnology branch
The filing trend reveals a single visible burst of activity in 2020 followed by a long quiet period, while the technology composition chart shows that semiconductor device classes are visible in but several adjacent branches remain lightly populated.
Annual filing trend
Filing volume surged to its peak in 2020 and has remained at or near zero in subsequent years, consistent with a field where foundational process-control IP was established quickly. Years from 2024 onward should be treated as potentially undercounted due to publication lag.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H01L (semiconductor devices) and H10P anchor the corpus, with C23C (coating and surface deposition) also prominent — reflecting the ALD/CVD-heavy nature of GAA nanosheet fabrication. B82Y (nanotechnology applications) appears with only 2 records, flagging it as an under-served adjacent branch relative to the visible classes.
↗ 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.
Substrate processing method, substrate processing …
The present disclosure appropriately shortens a processing step for processing a substrate in which a silicon layer and a silicon germanium layer are alternatively laminated. The present disclosure provides a substrate processing method of processing the substrate in which the silicon layer and the silicon germanium layer are alternatively laminated, which… (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 Inc
Applied Materials holds 5 patent families — the largest share in this corpus. Its technology focus spans C23C 16 (chemical vapour deposition and coating), H01L 21 (semiconductor fabrication processes), and H01L 29 (transistor structures), indicating a strategy that ties process-equipment capability directly to device-level outcomes. Momentum data shows a new-entrant trend in the most recent period, consistent with this being an emerging product line rather than a mature portfolio segment.
5 patent familiesTokyo Electron Ltd
Tokyo Electron holds 4 patent families, focused on H01L 21 (semiconductor fabrication), H10P 14, and H10P 72 — classes that map closely to GAA transistor operation and device physics rather than deposition process chemistry. This device-centric emphasis is complementary to Applied Materials’ process-equipment approach, suggesting the two companies are attacking different points in the GAA integration stack rather than directly competing on identical claims.
4 patent familiesFrequently asked questions
The corpus contains 10 patent families in scope, spread across three assignees. This is a small and highly specialised corpus reflecting the early, niche status of advanced process control specifically for gate-all-around nanosheet integration.
Applied Materials Inc leads with 5 patent families, followed by Tokyo Electron Ltd with 4 and Onto Innovation Inc with 1. These three organisations account for the entirety of the ranked corpus.
Filing activity peaked sharply in 2020 and has remained minimal in subsequent years. The lifecycle stage is classified as Decline, with annual volumes easing back from that peak. Years from 2024 onward may be undercounted due to the typical 18–24 month patent publication lag.
The United States is the lead jurisdiction, followed by China and Taiwan. Japan and WIPO (PCT) each account for one record. The US-heavy profile reflects the domicile of the leading equipment makers, while Taiwan coverage aligns with advanced foundry activity.
No co-applicant pairs are present in the collaboration data for this corpus. All three filers have pursued their GAA APC IP independently, suggesting strong competitive boundaries around process-control know-how in this domain.
The B82Y (nanotechnology applications) branch is the sparsest in the corpus with only 2 records, and H01J (electron and discharge tubes) appears in 3 records. Both are technically adjacent to nanosheet fabrication and APC — particularly for nano-scale metrology and beam-based inspection — but have not been primary filing axes for current assignees.
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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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