TSMC is gearing up for 7nm EUV volume production by March this year
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TSMC is gearing up for 7nm EUV volume production by March this year
According to DigiTimes, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is moving its enhanced 7nm EUV process to mass production in March this year. The producer of lithography equipment, Netherlands-based ASML has already assigned 18 of the 30 EUV systems on its order book to TSMC.
TSMC is also on track to move its 5nm to risk production and the company also plans to incorporate EUV in the manufacturing process. It expects to ship 5nm chips in the first half of 2019 and the node’s volume production will happen a year later, in the first half of 2020.
Although the 7nm node process was already in volume production since April last year, the move to use EUV lithography will result in improved yields and reduction of fabrication cycle times. The advantages of enhanced 7nm node over the first generation 7nm are improved power consumption and better area scaling between 15- to 20%.
According to WikiChip, the 7nm fab process has already contributed to over 25% of TSMC’s revenue in Q4 2018. In spite of manufacturing issues that include computer system virus infection and plant contamination, TSMC has pushed ahead to expand its 7nm process portfolio.
(Source: WikiChip, DigiTimes, David Schor @david_schor)
