Transistor performance increased by more than 16%! TSMC launches 6nm RF (N6RF) process for the first time

Today (2), TSMC Technology Forum 2021 was held, and the 6nm RF (N6RF) process was announced for the first time, bringing the power consumption, performance, and area advantages of the advanced 6nm logic process to 5G RF and WiFi 6/6e solutions. It is reported that compared with the previous generation of 16nm RF technology, the performance of N6RF transistors has increased by more than 16%.

N6RF can be said to be an advanced RF technology that supports the 5G era. TSMC pointed out that compared with 4G, 5G smartphones require more silicon area and power consumption to support faster wireless data transmission. 5G allows chips to integrate more functions and components. As chip sizes increase, they are competing with batteries for limited space inside smartphones.

TSMC said that the N6RF process provides significantly reduced power consumption and area for 5G RF transceivers below 6GHz and in the millimeter wave frequency bands, while taking into account the performance, functionality and battery life required by consumers. It will also enhance the performance and power efficiency of supporting WiFi 6/6e.

In addition, President Wei Zhejia also mentioned the progress of TSMC's 4nm and 3nm processes at the meeting. Among them, TSMC's 4nm process technology is expected to start trial production in the third quarter of 2021, one quarter earlier than the original plan for trial production in the fourth quarter of 2021. As for the 3nm process technology, it will be mass-produced in the second half of 2022 as originally planned, and it will become the world's most advanced logic technology by then.