TSMC says it can make next-generation chips without ASML's new machine

The semiconductor industry is vertical

2024-05-15 18:45Posted in Guangdong science and technology field creators

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Intel bought, TSMC said it didn't need to.

Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC has offered a new option, saying it doesn't necessarily need to use the next-generation "high NA EUV" machine introduced by ASML for the next-generation chipmaking technology A16, which will be developed in the second half of 2026.

High numerical aperture lithography tools are expected to help shrink chip designs by up to two-thirds, but chipmakers must weigh this benefit against higher costs and whether ASML's proven technology is more reliable and good enough.

Speaking at a conference in Amsterdam, TSMC's Kevin Chang said the company's A16 factory design has the potential to accommodate the technology, but that's uncertain. TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker, is the largest user of ASML's conventional EUV machines.

"I like the technology, but I don't like the price tag," Kevin told reporters. TSMC's A16 node will follow its 2nm production node, which is expected to enter mass production in 2025.

"When high numerical aperture EUV really comes into play, I think it depends on the best economic and technical balance that we can achieve," he said.

The cost of each high-NA tool is expected to exceed €350 million ($378 million), compared to €200 million for ASML's conventional EUV machines.

ASML is Europe's largest technology company and dominates the market for lithography systems, which are machines that use light beams to help create chip circuits. Lithography is one of the many technologies chipmakers use to improve chips, but it's a limiting factor in how small the functionality on a chip can be — smaller means faster and more energy-efficient.

While TSMC is still hesitating, Intel has bought all of the supply of High NA EUV.

According to South Korean media TheElec, as of the first half of next year, Intel has obtained most of the high-numerical aperture extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment produced by ASML.

The Dutch fab equipment maker will produce five of the kits this year, all of which will be supplied to the U.S. chipmaker, sources said. They say that since ASML's capacity for high numerical aperture EUV devices is about 5 to 6 units per year, this means that Intel will get all the initial capacity. Intel is getting its first high numerical aperture machine up and running at its Oregon facility, but it doesn't expect to be fully operational until 2025.

To win over customers, Intel is adopting high numerical aperture EUV faster than its competitors. The company re-entered the foundry market in 2021, but last year the business lost $7 billion. More recently, they replaced the head of the company's foundry business with an experienced Kevin O'Buckley.

O'Buckley joined Intel with more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering for the Customization, Compute and Storage Group at Marvell Technologies. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Product Development at Global Foundries and then joined Marvell as Business Leader following Marvell's acquisition of Avera Semiconductor in 2019. Prior to that, he spent more than 17 years in IBM's technology development and manufacturing organization. O'Buckley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Alfred University and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont.

"With the addition of High NA EUV, Intel will have the industry's most comprehensive lithography toolbox, enabling the company to drive future process capabilities beyond Intel 18A in the second half of this decade," said Intel Fellow and Director of Lithography, Hardware, and Solutions for Intel Foundry Logic Technology Development. ”

Intel said last month that it had become the first company to assemble ASML's new high-NA EUV lithography tool, an important part of the U.S. computer chipmaker's outperformance of its competitors. Intel placed an order for the latest High-NA EUV lithography machine, the Twinscan EXE:5200, and shipped the first machine to a factory in Oregon, USA, at the end of December 2023.

Previously, Intel purchased ASML's EUV device Twinscan EXE:5000, which Intel is using to learn how to better use High-NA EUV devices and use them for 18A process technology research and development, gaining valuable experience, and the company plans to use Twinscan EXE:5200 to mass produce 18A process chips from 2025.

The High-NA EUV lithography device with a 0.55 NA lens achieves a resolution of 8nm, a significant improvement over standard EUV with a 0.33 NA (Low-NA) lens, which offers 13nm resolution. High NA technologies are expected to play a crucial role in post-2nm scale process technologies, which require either dual patterning with low NA EUV or single patterning with high NA EUV.

Because there are many differences between high and low NA lithography machines and the need to make a lot of changes to the infrastructure, deploying the Twinscan EXE:5200 ahead of the competition is an advantage for Intel. On the one hand, Intel will have plenty of time to adjust its post-18A process technology, and on the other hand, the company will adjust its High-NA infrastructure for itself, which will give it an edge over its competitors.

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