TSMC ramps up 3nm chip baking at Taiwan plants
- Reference: 1672346474
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/12/29/tsmc_3nm_production_taiwan/
- Source link:
The design is expected to deliver significant performance and efficiency improvements over TSMC's 5nm node, now widely deployed in Apple, Qualcomm and AMD products. The foundry operator claims its N3 process will offer 60 to 70 percent higher logic density, 15 percent higher performance, while consuming 30 to 35 percent less power than its N5 process.
It's worth noting that TSMC is drawing comparisons to its N5 process, which is getting on in age, having been deployed in products for more than two years now. Several chipmakers, including Apple and Nvidia have already begun transitioning production over to TSMC's N4 node.
[1]
While rival Samsung is [2]moving to a gate-all-around transistor design — sometimes called [3]RibbonFET — TSMC is sticking with the tried-and-true FinFET transistor architecture. The foundry isn't expected to migrate to gate-all-around transistor designs until the launch of its 2nm process. TSMC is already preparing for its 2nm fabs in the Hsinchu and Central Taiwan Science Parks.
[4]
[5]
The announcement, made during a ceremony at the foundry's Tainan facility, comes as the chipmaker faces grapples with rapidly deteriorating trade relations between the US and China.
[6]TSMC founder says 'globalization is almost dead' as Asian foundry giant expands in US
[7]TSMC triples spending on Arizona advanced chip site with extra 3nm fab
[8]Chipmakers to spend $500b on 84 new fabs by 2024 despite shaky economy
[9]TSMC said to be considering first European semiconductor plant
"TSMC is maintaining its technology leadership while investing significantly in Taiwan," TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said in a [10]statement . "This 3nm volume production and capacity expansion ceremony demonstrates we are taking concrete action to develop advanced technology and expand capacity in Taiwan."
The comment comes as TSMC has been compelled by trade restrictions and sanctions to effectively bifurcate its supply chain and expand into new regions.
Earlier this month, TSMC [11]confirmed that it would build a second US fab in Phoenix, Arizona that will produce 3nm chips when it comes online in 2026. The company's first fab, announced in 2020, is slated to come online in 2024 and produce 4nm chips.
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However, TSMC execs clearly aren't happy about the position the company has been put in. During an industry event, earlier this Month, CEO CC Wei [13]grumbled that geopolitical conflict had created an environment in which the company no longer could sell its product to the world.
The comments came weeks after TSMC founder Morris Chang [14]proclaimed that globalization was "almost dead."
But while TSMC is expanding its US process and is reportedly weighing an [15]expansion into Europe, it appears the company remains committed to its home country, keeping its best tech for its Taiwan fabs. If the foundry operator sticks with this timetable, the US will get TSMC's 4nm process tech two years and its 3nm process nearly three years after Taiwan. ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y64cE10fJ0MzDrB35cH1ywAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-begins-chip-production-using-3nm-process-technology-with-gaa-architecture
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/23/intels_gelsinger_hot_chips/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y64cE10fJ0MzDrB35cH1ywAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/08/tsmc_founder_globalization/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/06/tsmc_processor_fab_arizona/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/15/chipmakers_500b_fab_investment/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/23/tsmc_reportedly_looking_at_building/
[10] https://pr.tsmc.com/english/news/2986
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/06/tsmc_processor_fab_arizona/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y64cE10fJ0MzDrB35cH1ywAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/21/tsmcs_ceo_us_china/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/08/tsmc_founder_globalization/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/23/tsmc_reportedly_looking_at_building/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Risk?
I do wonder if the risk to China is as great as it is to Taiwan. After all a few bags of flour can render a whole chip manufacturing facility for a long period - and I'd guess very fine sand could write it off completely in the sense that by the time you've rebuilt it its totally redundant and the people require to run it have drowned in rubber dinghys trying to get to silicon glen!
A two or three year silicon drought due to Taiwan calling MAD on China would destroy China.
And most of the West. Its some serious pissing in your chips. I'm not saying it wont happen but its something logic and 'common sense' is not going to stop.
How many exploding heads?
When I was in Ultra High Speed chip design for a few years in the mid 80s to 90 it was commented that the Z80 was possibly the last chip that one person could design on their own - even though two designers are credited with its creation. 8500 devices and a pretty complicated collection of parts and just a short time to get to know the process, the logic and several other cutting edge technological aspects and get it to market before something else turns up. Quite an achievement with some lasting effects on humanities knowledge base. And a mere 60 ish years later we're popping out a trillion devices that run a million times faster to be put into racks of computers a million times larger than we had then, running software written by several million people over those 60 years.
So people can write shit like this and send it to each other down communication channels a billion times faster than those I worked on all those years ago.
And yet the baud rate remains the same!
Risk?
Much as I admire Taiwan as an independent, democratic country, it seems unwise for us to be so dependent on a country that Xi Jinping has stated he may invade at any time.