[Taiwan Chip News] "TSMC Leads Samsung and Intel in Technology... Maintaining No.1 Foundry Position Worldwide"

Samsung Declares to Surpass TSMC Within 5 Years
"Facing Difficulties in Improving Production Yield"
Intel Fails to Timely Adopt EUV Lithography Equipment

Taiwan's 'Hoguk Shinsan (護國神山, the sacred mountain protecting the nation)' TSMC is competing against South Korea's Samsung Electronics and the United States' Intel to maintain its position as the world's number one foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company. In advanced processes below 7nm (nanometers; 1nm = one billionth of a meter), TSMC appears to be one step ahead of Samsung Electronics and Intel. This is because Intel failed to timely adopt extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment, and Samsung Electronics has struggled to improve yield rates (the ratio of good products).

TSMC logo. [Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

According to the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), 'advanced processes' and 'mature processes' are generally distinguished based on the 7nm threshold. Processes at 5nm and 3nm are classified as advanced, while those at 7nm and above (especially 16nm and 28nm) are considered mature processes. The battleground for the 'top three foundries' lies in advanced processes. TSMC announced in 2019 that it was the first to introduce EUV lithography technology in its 7nm process. Lithography refers to the etching technology that forms patterns on wafers (discs) using EUV equipment, similar to drawing a picture on paper. Lithography technology played a crucial role in enabling TSMC to establish advanced process foundations such as 6nm, 5nm, and 3nm.

In 2022, TSMC's '3nm FinFET (3nm FinFET, N3)' process, which has a mass production system in place, is a leading semiconductor logic process technology in the industry. N3 boasts top performance, power consumption, and area (PPA). The TSMC 3nm product lineup also includes the high-performance computing application-tailored process N3X and the advanced automotive solution N3AE.

What about the moves of rival companies in advanced processes below 3nm? Samsung Electronics reportedly secured orders for 2nm process-based semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators from the Japanese AI startup PFN (Preferred Networks) on February 15. An industry insider said, "From the perspective of fabless (design) companies like PFN, there are too many variables to evaluate the 2nm processes of Samsung Electronics and TSMC, which have not yet entered mass production," adding, "The key likely lies in the smooth supply of hBN (hexagonal boron nitride) and reducing dependence on TSMC on the supply side."

Samsung is focusing on the advanced packaging market. It announced plans to produce chips related to mobile applications using the 2nm process before 2025. This timeline is similar to TSMC's 2nm mass production plan. Samsung declared that it would surpass TSMC in the 1.4nm process by 2027. Kyung Kye-hyun, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) division, said in May last year, "Frankly speaking, Samsung's foundry technology is 1 to 2 years behind TSMC, but from the time TSMC enters the 2nm process, Samsung can take the lead," adding, "We can surpass TSMC within five years." However, major foreign media reported that "if Samsung fails to improve production yield, it will be a significant obstacle to taking the lead."

Intel failed to timely recognize one of TSMC's 'secrets to success.' Pat Gelsinger, Intel's CEO, recently revealed at an investor meeting that about a year ago, Intel opposed using EUV lithography equipment from the Dutch equipment maker ASML. This decision has widened the gap between Intel and TSMC.

According to Taiwan consulting firm Redefine Innovation, semiconductor market research firm TechInsights presented data comparing the latest process progress of TSMC, Intel, and Samsung. The data analyzed TSMC and Intel. TSMC CEO Wei Zhejia mentioned that their 3nm process is superior to Intel's 18A (1.8nm) process, which can be confirmed in TechInsights' comparative analysis chart.

According to the analysis, in terms of transistor density, TSMC's N3 process has 283MTx/㎟, and the N3E process has 273MTx/㎟, which are much higher than Intel's 18A process at 195MTx/㎟. Although Intel adopted backside power technology in the 18A process, it seems unlikely to significantly surpass the performance of TSMC's 3nm process. Intel has not disclosed figures related to power consumption.

Taiwan Economic Daily News = In Huizhong, Zhong Huiling / Translation = Asia Economy