The “high-NA EUV” equipment produces concentrated laser beams that form nanoscale circuitry on computer chips found in phones, computers, vehicles, and artificial intelligence gadgets like smart speakers. The wavelength of light used by ASML’s most advanced devices is EUV, which stands for extreme ultraviolet.
During TSMC’s technology conference in Silicon Valley, Y.J. Mii, senior vice president of research and development, said, “TSMC will bring in high-NA EUV scanners in 2024 to establish the associated infrastructure and patterning solutions needed for customers to fuel innovation.” Mii did not specify when the device, which is the second generation of extreme ultraviolet lithography tools for producing smaller and quicker chips, would be mass produced.
TSMC competitor Intel Corp. has stated that it will employ the machines in production by 2025 and will be the first to acquire them. TSMC will compete with Intel for customers as it enters the industry of manufacturing chips designed by other businesses.
Kevin Zhang, TSMC’s senior vice president of business development, explained that the new high-NA EUV tool would not be ready for production until 2024, but would be utilized only for research with partners. “The relevance of TSMC having it in 2024 is that they will have access to the most advanced technology faster,” said Dan Hutcheson, chip economist at TechInsights.”High-NA EUV is the next important technological breakthrough that will propel chip technology forward,” Hutcheson added.
TSMC also revealed new details on their 2-nanometer chip technology on Thursday, claiming that commercial production will begin in 2025. TSMC claimed it spent 15 years developing “nanosheet” transistor technology to boost speed and power efficiency, and it will utilize it in its 2-nanometer circuits for the first time.
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