Semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials AMAT-Q is under U.S. criminal investigation for potentially evading export restrictions on China’s top chip maker SMIC, according to three people familiar with the matter. The largest U.S. semiconductor equipment maker is being probed by the Justice Department for sending equipment to SMIC via South Korea without export licences, the sources said. Hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment is involved, one of the people said. Reuters is reporting details of the probe for the first time. Shares in Applied Materials fell 7.3 per cent after the news and the company reported quarterly results. The…