TSMC indicates that their 5nm lithography is going better than expected
Currently the foundry that is leading the market in terms of lithography is TSMC, which already has the 7nm EUV node mature. This node will begin to be used next year to manufacture AMD Ryzen 4000 processors. The Taiwanese foundry has taken the opportunity to highlight that its 5nm node is doing very well. Companies like Apple, Huawei and AMD are interested in this node.
Note that there are important rumors about production problems on the TSMC 7nm node. This problem would be the same as the one that Intel has, which is none other than having greater demand than production capacity. A problem that would be due, among others, to a higher than expected sales volume of AMD processors.
[amazon box="B07SXMZLPK"]TSMC says their 5nm node is doing great
The development process of the 5nm node by TSMC is over, so manufacturers can now start developing their chips. The Apple A14, the Huawei Kirin 1000 and the AMD Ryzen 5000 would be based on this node. The Taiwanese foundry is in the phase of testing and refining this node, implementing some important improvements.
TSMC 5nm lithography will allow up to 1.8x density improvement, also offering 15% more frequency and 30% downward adjustment of consumption compared to 7nm EUV. In addition, the foundry indicates that the manufacturing performance in 5nm is at 40%. A much better figure than the one obtained in its day with 7nm, which had a worse rate.
TSMC is expected to announce the Roadmap for 2020 and beyond in a few months. It is speculated that the 5nm could be available by September 2020. This does not mean that in 2020 we already have processors under this lithography, but it is an interesting piece of information. Apple would like to include this lithograph in the iPhone 12 and Huawei in the Mate 40, but we will see if it is possible.
TSMC indicates that Fab 18 will be fully operational by mid-2021. The plant should have a production capacity of 5.5 million wafers per month by that date. This should be more than enough to meet the demand of the companies. It will be a matter of waiting and seeing the deadlines indicated by TSMC.
Source: Anandtech
