Items tagged with Fabs
We learned earlier this week that Intel made some branding changes to its process nodes, and the company gave us some insight into the advanced technology that will underline its Intel 20A node. However, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, isn't sitting idly by. The company announced in April that it would funnel $100 billion into expanding its manufacturing capabilities over the next three years in Taiwan and abroad. According to a new report, TSMC is well on its way to maintaining a dominant edge as it just received approval for a new 2nm facility in Hsinchu's Baoshan township. According to the Nikkei Asia report, construction on the...
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It's no secret that the United States has lost its dominant position as a hotbed for semiconductor production. The U.S. long ceded the crown to other countries like Taiwan, home to [contract] chip manufacturing giant TSMC. However, U.S. lawmakers finally realize that providing a competitive environment for domestic chip production is not only good for national security reasons but could also add high-paying jobs. A group of bi-partisan Senators has announced the aptly named Facilitating American-Built Semiconductors or FABS Act to return the U.S. to a dominant position in the semiconductor realm. The FABS Act is in addition to the $52 billion plan approved by the U.S. Senate last week to boost...
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One of the greatest obstacles standing between chip manufacturers and the pursuit of smaller, faster, processors is the lack of a proper light source. Current chips are etched using a deep ultraviolet wavelength of 193nm, but at a 28nm semiconductor process geometry, we've reached the limits of what a 193nm wavelength is small enough to etch, even when using immersion lithography (in which the chip is immersed in water). Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) has been pegged as the most likely replacement for current 193nm technology, but repeated problems with ramping EUV have left it stalled on the runway. Now, for the first time, foundry technology developer ASML, which made headlines last...
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It was only a year ago that Globalfoundries announced plans for a major global capacity expansion. And now? Globalfoundries today said it's ready to start moving 300mm semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment into its newly constructed cleanrooms in New York and Dresden. The technical term for this milestone is called "Ready for Equipment," which is just what it sounds like and signifies that these two plants are ready to move from the construction phase to the operations phase. "At Globalfoundries, we continue to invest aggressively in driving sustained growth on advanced technologies," said Globalfoundries CEO Ajit Manocha. "The build-out of our 300mm manufacturing campuses in New York and...
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