Ultrathin Film Material Market

JX Advanced Metals opened its new Hitachinaka factory for semiconductor sputtering targets on 26 March 2026, its third major base in Ibaraki Prefecture, with part of the line already in trial operation, the company reported. Ultrathin film material is the source material deposited to build films thinner than about 100 nanometres; the market covers sputtering targets, chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) precursors, evaporation materials, spin-on nanofilms and atomically thin 2D material films. Douglas Insights sizes the ultrathin film material market at USD 9.54 billion in 2025, from 41,300 tonnes at an average USD 231.0 per kilogram, and at USD 20.23 billion in 2035, a revenue CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 7.81%. The work belongs to our semiconductor materials coverage and follows the Douglas Insights research methodology.

Which companies supply sputtering targets and ALD precursors for ultrathin film material?

Four suppliers lead ultrathin film material, and Douglas Insights puts the top three, JX Advanced Metals, Merck KGaA and Entegris, at 31.6% of 2025 revenue. Their positions rest on high-purity metal refining, precursor chemistry qualified at leading fabs and plants close to Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean customers.

JX Advanced Metals is the anchor. On 10 March 2026 it announced a capital investment to expand semiconductor sputtering target output at the new Hitachinaka factory, and on 27 May 2025 it decided to buy industrial land next to that site, both listed in its FY2025 news releases. Douglas Insights estimates JX at 13.9% of ultrathin film material revenue, about USD 1.33 billion, once its crystal materials and recycling sales are left out.

Merck KGaA reported Electronics sector sales of EUR 3.52 billion for 2025, down 7.1%, with Semiconductor Solutions at EUR 2.49 billion and Semiconductor Materials growing strongly inside it, according to its 2025 annual report. Only part of that unit sells deposition precursors and spin-on films, so its ultrathin film material share sits near 9.6%.

Entegris describes its Materials Solutions segment in its 2025 Form 10-K as a source of ultra-pure liquid and solid precursors for chemical vapor and atomic layer deposition of molybdenum, tungsten and titanium, plus the containers that deliver low-volatility solids to the chamber. Materion, whose 2025 net sales were USD 1.79 billion in its 10-K, makes vapor deposition targets in its Electronic Materials segment. TANIOBIS and Toho Titanium sit inside the JX group, so the concentration figure counts them once.

Which ultrathin film material segment leads, sputtering targets or CVD and ALD precursors?

Sputtering targets lead ultrathin film material with 47.3% of 2025 revenue, worth USD 4.51 billion, because every logic, memory, display and solar line sputters metal and oxide layers. CVD and ALD precursors follow at 26.8%, and atomically thin 2D material films grow fastest at 13.35% a year.

Sputtering targets earn USD 4.51 billion and reach USD 9.17 billion by 2035 at 7.35% a year. A target is a bonded plate or rotary tube of copper, tantalum, titanium, aluminium, cobalt or indium tin oxide (ITO), and a fab or panel line consumes it by the kilogram as plasma erodes it.

CVD and ALD precursors hold USD 2.56 billion and grow 9.62% a year to USD 6.41 billion. Each new gate-all-around transistor and each extra 3D NAND word line adds conformal hafnium oxide, titanium nitride, tungsten or molybdenum layers that only gas-phase chemistry can coat evenly.

Spin-on and solution-processed nanofilms take 13.2%, or USD 1.26 billion, growing 5.86% a year. Spin-on carbon, spin-on glass and anti-reflective coatings sit under photoresist; our Semiconductor Photoresists Market study sizes the resist layer itself.

Evaporation materials hold 9.6%, worth USD 915.9 million, and grow slowest at 4.48% a year. Pellets of gold, silver, aluminium and magnesium fluoride still coat organic light-emitting diode (OLED) cathodes, optical lenses and lift-off metal contacts, but sputtering keeps taking large-area work.

Atomically thin 2D material films are the smallest slice at 3.1%, or USD 295.7 million, yet the fastest at 13.35% a year, reaching USD 1.04 billion. Graphene, hexagonal boron nitride and molybdenum disulfide films move from pilot lines into sensors and interconnect liners; our 2D Electronics Market report follows the devices.

Why are AI logic and 3D NAND fabs ordering more ultrathin film material per wafer?

Ultrathin film material tonnage grows 5.62% a year to 2035 in the base case, and AI logic plus high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply 2.31 points of it. Finer wiring and more stacked layers multiply deposition steps per wafer, so material demand rises faster than wafer starts.

AI logic and HBM wiring: 2.31 points

Generative AI and data centre expansion lift demand for logic, 3D NAND and HBM chips that need finer, multilayered wiring, JX Advanced Metals said when it completed a mass production line for high-purity CVD and ALD materials at its Hitachi area office in March 2026, listed among its news releases. Scaling raises wiring resistance and noise, so fabs replace tungsten and cobalt with molybdenum compounds in some layers. Douglas Insights estimates semiconductors took 9,870 tonnes of ultrathin film material in 2025, and this source alone adds 2.31 points.

Chip-grade ultrathin film material is also the costliest by weight. SEMI reported 2024 wafer fabrication materials at USD 42.9 billion, up 3.3%, with strong double-digit growth in chemical mechanical planarization, photoresist and photoresist ancillaries as advanced dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), 3D NAND and leading-edge logic added process steps, in its 28 April 2025 release. The same step count lifts deposition: a gate-all-around logic wafer needs more ALD passes than a FinFET wafer, and every HBM stack adds through-silicon via liners and barrier metal.

3D NAND layer counts: 1.27 points

3D NAND adds 1.27 points. Every extra pair of word-line layers needs another conformal tungsten or molybdenum fill and another oxide-nitride stack. JX said on 23 June 2025 that its Chigasaki expansion for molybdenum CVD and ALD compounds was complete and in full operation, per its news releases, and that its German company TANIOBIS had started new CVD and ALD equipment in November 2024.

Displays, solar cells and glass: 2.04 points

Flat panel displays add 0.86 points as OLED panels spread to laptops and tablets, each panel carrying ITO, indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) and metal layers. Photovoltaics add 0.71 points through transparent conductive oxide on heterojunction and tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells, the largest tonnage user at 12,460 tonnes in 2025. Optical and architectural glass coatings add 0.47 points from low-emissivity glazing. Together, displays, solar cells and glass took 29,850 tonnes of ultrathin film material in 2025, or 72.3% of world tonnage on our model. The five contributions, 2.31 + 1.27 + 0.86 + 0.71 + 0.47, sum to the 5.62% volume leg.

What hinders ultrathin film material tonnage as target utilisation improves?

Three restraints remove 0.92 points from ultrathin film material volume growth, which would otherwise run at 6.54% a year. Better target utilisation, a pause in solar cell capacity and long fab qualification cycles each subtract a measured slice.

Target utilisation takes 0.41 points. Our model assumes rotary targets and magnet redesigns lift usable material per target by about a third against planar plates by 2035, and spent targets return to the refiner. More film per kilogram means fewer kilograms of ultrathin film material bought.

Solar overcapacity takes 0.33 points. Douglas Insights assumes solar cell lines run below rated output through 2027, so ITO and silver demand for photovoltaics lags installed capacity. Douglas Insights calculates the gap at about 2,200 tonnes of 2035 demand.

Qualification cycles take 0.18 points. Our model assumes a new precursor or target grade needs 12 to 24 months of fab qualification before volume orders, which slows how fast 2D material films and new molybdenum chemistries reach mass use.

Where is ultrathin film material consumed, and why does Taiwan set the pace?

Asia Pacific consumes USD 6.80 billion of ultrathin film material in 2025, 71.3% of the world, and grows fastest at 8.31% a year. Taiwan, China and South Korea run most leading-edge fabs, panel lines and solar cell plants, so deposition tonnage follows them.

Asia Pacific reaches USD 15.11 billion by 2035. SEMI reported on 28 April 2025 that Taiwan bought USD 20.1 billion of semiconductor materials in 2024, the largest for the 15th straight year, ahead of China at USD 13.5 billion and South Korea at USD 10.5 billion, in its materials market release.

North America holds USD 1.22 billion of ultrathin film material in 2025 and grows 7.10% a year to USD 2.42 billion, as US fab capacity now under construction ramps. Europe is worth USD 1.04 billion, growing 5.68% to USD 1.81 billion, built on European logic fabs and glass coaters.

The Middle East and Africa form the wildcard at USD 257.6 million, growing 7.95% a year to USD 553.6 million, as new solar cell and glass coating plants buy targets. Latin America is the smallest region at USD 219.4 million, rising 4.25% a year to USD 332.7 million, mostly architectural glass and Mexican electronics assembly.

How much does a kilogram of ultrathin film material cost, from glass targets to hafnium precursors?

Ultrathin film material averages USD 231.0 per kilogram in 2025, inside a band from under USD 50 for large-area aluminium and silicon targets to several thousand dollars for ALD precursors. Purity, the precious metal inside and qualification status set the price far more than weight.

Precious metals move invoices. Materion reported that higher precious metal pass-through costs raised Electronic Materials net sales by about USD 208.2 million in 2025, partly offset by a USD 35.3 million drop in precious metal sales, in its 2025 annual report. Douglas Insights projects the average ultrathin film material price to rise 2.07% a year, to USD 283.5 per kilogram by 2035, as precursors take a larger share of the mix.

Which display and solar cell lines buy ultrathin film material outside the chip fab?

Non-chip lines buy 31,430 tonnes of ultrathin film material in 2025, 76.1% of world tonnage, but only about 41.7% of value, because display, solar and glass targets sell at a fraction of chip-grade prices.

Photovoltaics use 12,460 tonnes, mostly ITO and silver. Flat panel displays use 11,240 tonnes of ITO, IGZO, molybdenum and aluminium. Optical and architectural glass coatings take 6,150 tonnes of silver, zinc tin oxide and silicon nitride targets. Data storage and sensors use 1,580 tonnes of cobalt, platinum and ruthenium alloys for hard disk media and magnetic sensors.

Which rules on critical raw materials and supply assurance reach ultrathin film material makers?

Two policy tracks touch ultrathin film material: Japan certified a supply assurance plan for semiconductor sputtering targets on 23 July 2025, and the European Union adopted its Critical Raw Materials Act on 11 April 2024. Both treat target and precursor metals as strategic supply.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) certification of the JX plan for semiconductor sputtering targets, dated 23 July 2025 in the company release list, ties state support to keeping capacity in Japan. Fabs abroad read it as a signal that Japanese target output stays available during shortages.

Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 of 11 April 2024 sets a framework for a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. Tantalum, tungsten and indium buyers in Europe face more sourcing reporting, which favours refiners that recycle spent ultrathin film material targets.

What if molybdenum and hafnium precursor demand outruns plan: how far can the ultrathin film material forecast for 2035 move?

Ultrathin film material ends 2035 between USD 15.75 billion and USD 25.19 billion across our three cases, around a base of USD 20.23 billion. Volume growth sets the spread, because AI logic, HBM and 3D NAND layer counts carry 3.58 points of the base tonnage leg.

In the slower case, AI server spending pauses and solar cell lines stay idle, so volume grows 3.71% a year. In the faster case, the Hitachinaka sputtering target investment announced on 10 March 2026 and similar moves meet demand without shortages, molybdenum replaces tungsten in more layers and volume grows 7.34%, per the JX release list. One extra point of yearly tonnage growth adds USD 2.00 billion to the 2035 value; one point less removes USD 1.84 billion.

Published forecasts for thin and ultrathin film materials span roughly 5.0% to 13.7% a year. Our 7.81% sits in the lower half, because we count material only and leave deposition equipment and finished coated parts out.

Douglas Exclusive: the ultrathin film material capacity calendar

The ultrathin film material capacity calendar is a Douglas Insights model built from 11 sourced inputs: eight dated company releases, two regulatory texts and one industry materials survey. It places each capacity or policy move on a timeline and tags the film layer it serves.

The calendar counts moves, not tonnes. Nine of its ten entries concern sputtering targets or CVD and ALD precursors, the two layers that together hold 74.1% of 2025 ultrathin film material revenue, or USD 7.07 billion. Eight of the ten entries in our count fall between 28 April 2025 and 26 March 2026.

The finding: capacity is clustering in Ibaraki Prefecture, where JX now runs Hitachi, Isohara and Hitachinaka. A buyer qualifying a second source for copper or tantalum targets should look outside that prefecture first, and evaporation materials and spin-on nanofilms show no comparable build-out in the calendar.

How does the methodology turn 41,300 tonnes of ultrathin film material into USD 9.54 billion?

Our methodology multiplies 41,300 tonnes of 2025 ultrathin film material by an average USD 231.0 per kilogram to reach USD 9.54 billion. Tonnage comes from five application builds; price comes from five form-level bands weighted by tonnage.

The model covers 34 countries in five regions and uses 72 data points, 11 of them sourced and 61 modelled. Arithmetic: 41,300 x 231.0 / 1,000 = 9,540.3; 9,540.3 x (1.0562 x 1.0207)^10 = 20,230.4, or USD 20.23 billion. Tonnage in 2035 reaches 71,353.

Two cross-checks agree. First, chip-grade material worth about USD 5.56 billion, 58.3% of our value, equals 13.0% of the USD 42.9 billion of 2024 wafer fabrication materials in the SEMI release, a plausible deposition share beside silicon, gases, chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries and resists. Second, our 13.9% JX share, USD 1.33 billion, stays well under the company’s total sales, which also include crystal materials and recycled metals.

Sources

1. JX Advanced Metals FY2025 news releases (2026)
2. JX Advanced Metals Opening ceremony for the new Hitachinaka factory (2026)
3. JX Advanced Metals Strengthening supply of high-purity CVD and ALD materials (2025)
4. SEMI 2024 global semiconductor materials market posts USD 67.5 billion (2025)
5. US SEC Materion Form 10-K 2025 (2026)
6. US SEC Entegris Form 10-K 2025 (2026)
7. Merck KGaA Annual Report 2025: Electronics (2026)
8. EUR-Lex Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 Critical Raw Materials Act (2024)

Which deposition layers count as ultrathin film material, and how thin is ultrathin?

Ultrathin film material here means source material that forms layers below about 100 nanometres, valued at first sale by the refiner or chemical maker. Deposition equipment, coated wafers, finished panels and thick plated copper stay out, as do bulk polymer packaging films.

Sputtering targets count at their bonded weight including backing plate value. CVD and ALD precursors count as delivered chemistry, not the canister. Silicon epitaxy sits outside, covered in our Silicon Epi Wafer Market study. The by-application split covers semiconductors, flat panel displays, photovoltaics, optical and architectural glass coatings, and data storage and sensors.