TSMC makes a breakthrough in the 1nm process

Some time ago, IBM announced the production of the world’s first 2nm process node chip, which made many people expect that 2nm chips could be mass-produced as soon as possible. Recently, good news has come from the semiconductor process. TSMC cooperates with the National University of Taiwan (NTU) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has made a major breakthrough in the development of 1nm chips.

The researchers found that the use of semi-metal bismuth (Bi) as the contact electrode of the two-dimensional material to replace the original silicon element so that the bismuth element can be used to greatly reduce the resistance and greatly increase the transmission current. The discovery was first proposed by the MIT team, and then further refined by TSMC and NTU. In the future, this can improve the performance and energy efficiency of the chip. Related research has been published in the international journal “Nature“.

TSMC plans to enter the mass production stage at the 3nm process node in the second half of 2022. It is currently developing the 2nm process node. It is estimated that it will take many years for the 1nm process node to achieve real mass production.

The biggest trouble for TSMC in the near future is still the problem of water for production. The continuous drought in Taiwan, China has caused the local authorities to continuously tighten the water policy. According to Wccftech reports, market rumors that TSMC has been increasing its budget in order to protect water, and will order more water tankers to transport water to ensure production. According to the statistics of research company Susquehanna, the current delivery time of purchase orders in the industry has increased by one week in March, reaching 16 weeks, which is also the highest value in many years.