CC Wei, the president and CEO of TSMC, does not seem willing to allow his company to lose competitiveness in the medium term. In the middle of last January Wei, who then held the general managementwas extremely cautious during a meeting about the possibility of his company adopting the new high-aperture EUV machines (EUV High NA in English) from ASML.
“We are studying it carefully, evaluating the maturity of the tool and examining its costs. We always make the right decision at the right time in order to offer the best service to our clients,” Wei assured. during his intervention. The curious thing is that a few weeks before Szeho Ng, an analyst at China Renaissance, predicted that TSMC would not use ASML’s high-aperture UVE equipment until it introduced its 1nm integration technology. Both statements seemed to be aligned.
To further curl the curl the middle DigiTimes Asiawhich usually handles very reliable information, got wet shortly after and, like Szeho Ng, defended that TSMC will not use ASML’s most advanced lithography equipment in its 2 and 1.4 nm nodes. If so, this decision would have very important repercussions. And TSMC’s position reminded us that with appropriate refinements, first-generation EUV lithography equipment can be used to produce 2nm chips, and even beyond.
TSMC wants to maintain the advantage it has over Intel and Samsung
Intel already has two UVE and high aperture lithography equipment in the testing phase at its Hillsboro semiconductor plant, in Oregon (USA). And according to the newspaper Seoul Economic Daily (SED), which is a reliable source, Samsung plans to install its first high-aperture UVE equipment at one of its plants on the Hwaseong campus at the end of 2024 or during the first quarter of 2025. This machine will mainly be used for research and development, and will presumably be ready to enter into operation in mid-2025.
Presumably TSMC will not begin large-scale chip manufacturing with the high-aperture SVU machines until the introduction of its A14 node in 2028
At the beginning of June, the consulting firm Jefferies Global Research & Strategy, which specializes in market strategy, confirmed that ASML will ship its first high-aperture EUV lithography equipment to TSMC much sooner than expected. By the end of 2024. However, TSMC would not begin large-scale manufacturing of integrated circuits with the high-aperture UVE machines until the introduction of its A14 node (1.4 nm) in 2028. The more than three years that would elapse between the receipt of the first machine and the start of large-scale production are consistent with the validation tests and the optimization of manufacturing processes that is necessary carry out.
DigiTimes Asia has confirmed that according to its sources in the semiconductor industry, ASML’s first high-aperture EUV equipment will finally arrive at TSMC’s plant in Hsinchu, north of Taiwan. and now it is Nikkei Asia the medium that also confirms the receipt of this equipment before the end of this year.
For the company led by CC Wei this is a very important step on the path towards the consolidation of technological leadership that Intel and Samsung are going to have a hard time taking away from him. And we can be sure that the reason why TSMC is finally going to use ASML’s most advanced equipment is none other than to protect its competitiveness from the very likely onslaught of its two direct competitors.
rmation | Nikkei Asia
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