TSMC is about to enter the EUV era with 5nm production

Source: Content from "China Business Times", thank you.

Semiconductor lithography technology has finally ushered in a new generation of transition. The immersion lithography technology that has dominated the key semiconductor processes in the past 10 years will begin to shift to the new generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) this year. TSMC, the leading wafer foundry, will start the 7+ nanometer mass production plan supporting EUV technology in March, and the 5 nanometer supporting EUV will also enter trial production at the same time.

Overview of the progress of lithography technology of the three major semiconductor factories

TSMC's EUV process has entered the mass production stage, which is a major milestone for the semiconductor industry. EUV technology can keep Moore's Law going and theoretically can advance the semiconductor process to 1 nanometer.

Although only a few mask layers of TSMC's first generation 7+ nanometer process that supports EUV technology will be completed using EUV, companies including HiSilicon, NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom, and Qualcomm will gradually introduce 7+ nanometer process for mass production.

However, according to industry sources, the new generation A13 application processor that Apple will launch in the second half of this year will not use TSMC's 7+ nanometer process that supports EUV technology, but will use the enhanced 7 nanometer (7nm Pro) process for mass production. The industry expects that Apple's A14 application processor, which is currently under development, will be the first chip to use EUV, and is expected to be mass-produced using TSMC's 5 nanometer process next year.

In order to accelerate the EUV process learning curve, TSMC supports EUV 7+ nanometer mass production, and it is expected that half of the mask layers will use EUV technology 5 nanometer, which will also enter the risk trial production stage at the same time. TSMC and Grand Alliance partners work closely together to build the EUV ecosystem, including industry reports that TSMC has expanded its purchase of 30 equipment from EUV equipment giant ASML, and wafer carrier solution manufacturer Den has also become the main EUV mask box supplier.

TSMC President and CEO Wei Zhejia pointed out in a recent corporate briefing that the 7+ nanometer yield rate is progressing well and is expected to enter mass production after the second quarter. TSMC has cooperated with several customers to assist them in the introduction of 7+ nanometer processes into their second-generation or third-generation product designs. TSMC expects that the mass production of the better-priced 7+ nanometer will bring greater growth space for the 7 nanometer generation in the next few years. As for the current R&D progress of 5 nanometers, customers will complete chip design finalization (tape-out) in the first half of this year, and it will enter mass production in the first half of next year.

Although only some of the mask layers of TSMC's 7+ nanometers use EUV technology, it can still increase transistor density by about 20% and reduce power consumption by about 10% at the same operating performance. As for 5 nanometers, which use more EUV mask layers, it is expected to increase transistor density by 1.8 times or reduce chip size by about 45% compared to 7 nanometers, increase computing performance by 15% at the same power consumption, or reduce power consumption by 20% at the same computing performance. TSMC also plans to add Extremely Low Threshold Voltage (ELTV) technology to the 5 nanometer generation to help customers increase computing performance by 25%.

As chip functions become more powerful and semiconductor manufacturing processes become more complex, the advancement of Moore's Law has slowed down. For the immersion lithography and multi-patterning technologies currently used by the three major semiconductor manufacturers, TSMC, Samsung, and Intel, if the process advancement speed of Moore's Law is to be maintained, the chip cost will soar in geometric progression. Therefore, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology, which can significantly reduce the number of chip mask layers, will extend the life of Moore's Law.

In addition to the technological advancement that allows the number of transistors in a chip to double every 18 to 24 months, Moore's Law also includes economic benefits. In fact, due to the smooth advancement of Moore's Law over the past 20 years, the unit manufacturing cost of chips has been reduced year by year, which has led to the popularity of personal computers and the number of smartphones in people's hands. If Moore's Law did not exist in the semiconductor market, the cost of chips would be difficult to effectively reduce, and it would be almost impossible to buy a computer or mobile phone for less than $1,000.

However, as chip manufacturing processes continue to advance, it is becoming increasingly difficult to further miniaturize circuits, and the cost is increasing at an increasingly rapid rate. In terms of the 14/16 nanometer logic process currently in mass production in the industry, the investment in equipment is several times that of 28 nanometers. In other words, the decline in the unit manufacturing cost of chips has slowed down, and after the process enters 10 nanometers or 7 nanometers, the chip cost can hardly be reduced. In other words, as Moore's Law slows down, new flagship phones from Apple and Samsung will have more functions, and the more chips or functions they will use, the higher the price will naturally be.

To solve this problem, the industry has been discussing whether there will be better technologies to extend the life of Moore's Law after immersion lithography technology as early as 10 years ago. Now, with TSMC's 7+ nanometers entering mass production and EUV technology officially taking over, Moore's Law can at least continue to the 3 nanometer or 1 nanometer generation. Although the price of advanced processes is still high, in the long run, the economic benefits of the development of Moore's Law will continue.

ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. Chief Operating Officer Wu Tianyu once pointed out that in the past, innovation in the semiconductor industry was Moore's Law, so everyone followed it. But now the industry feels that the advancement of Moore's Law has slowed down. However, in his opinion, it is not slowing down, but the industry's lack of ability to reduce costs has led to the extension of the time of Moore's Law. However, the economic law represented by Moore's Law on another level has not changed.

Of course, there are still many challenges to keep Moore's Law going by EUV. In addition to process miniaturization, system-level packaging (SiP) technology with the advantage of heterogeneous chip integration is also seen as an important solution to keep Moore's Law going. In other words, the future chip will not be a single chip, but a subsystem or microsystem concept. Heterogeneous integration will be another important development direction for the semiconductor industry.

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