@WTAN @foofy Sir! a novice question according to TSMC Zhang Zhongmou
"It is understood that advanced packaging technology can make up for the shortcomings in the process, which is the so-called small chip. In the field of small chips, Jiang Shangyi can be said to have the absolute right to speak, and he has also joined SMIC." is it true? I think what he is trying to imply is the 3D stacking process?
How exactly is SMIC's manufacturing technology?TSMC Zhang Zhongmou tells the truth, he is really the chip leader
2021/06/05 17:41:42
Chips are the most in short supply at the moment. Intel has made it clear that the chip shortage may continue for about two years.
Because of the shortage of chips, global chip manufacturing companies have begun to expand chip production capacity and produce more chips.
For example, Samsung invested 17 billion US dollars to build a new factory in the United States, while TSMC may invest more than 30 billion US dollars to build 6 5nm chip factories, and GF has also announced a new factory in the United States.
Even Intel, which doesn't like foundry, has announced that it will invest 20 billion US dollars to build a new factory and formally enter the foundry field. There is also SMIC, which also announced an investment of 50 billion yuan to expand chip production capacity.
But among these chip companies, only Samsung and TSMC can produce chips with a process below 7nm, and Intel may not be able to launch self-made 7nm chips until 2022.
As for SMIC, it has been able to produce chips with a process above 14nm, and the yield rate of 14nm chips has already surpassed that of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
In addition, SMIC can also manufacture N+1 process chips, and N+2 process chips will be trial-produced by the end of this year. As for the 7nm chip, Liang Mengsong said before that it would conduct a risk trial production in April this year.
Now, it is April, but there is still no news about the trial production of 7nm chips, so the outside world is speculating about SMIC's chip manufacturing capabilities.
Recently, regarding SMIC's chip manufacturing technology, TSMC Zhang Zhongmou gave a fair evaluation.
It is reported that at the recent master think tank forum, TSMC Zhang Zhongmou evaluated global chip manufacturing. He said that after years of subsidies,
SMIC still has a gap of more than 5 years with TSMC in terms of technology.
Zhang Zhongmou's evaluation of SMIC in this way is quite pertinent, but he has not considered it a little, because SMIC is technically excellent, and chips such as 7nm and 5nm are limited by EUV lithography machines.
First of all, under the leadership of Liang Mengsong, SMIC completed the development of 28nm to 7nm chips in only 3 years, while other manufacturers often took as long as 10 years.
From this point of view, SMIC's technical research and development strength is also very strong. For chips with more advanced processes such as 5nm, EUV lithography machines must be used. Without EUV lithography machines, full research and development cannot be carried out.
Due to the United States, SMIC ordered an ASML EUV lithography machine in full three years ago, but it did not arrive late, which to a certain extent hindered SMIC's technological progress.
In other words, as long as the EUV lithography machine arrives, the gap between SMIC and TSMC will naturally shrink quickly.
Secondly,
SMIC is developing in two directions, not only developing advanced technology and technology, but also developing advanced packaging technology.
It is understood that advanced packaging technology can make up for the shortcomings in the process, which is the so-called small chip. In the field of small chips, Jiang Shangyi can be said to have the absolute right to speak, and he has also joined SMIC.
In other words, Liang Mengsong is responsible for the development of advanced technology, while Jiang Shangyi develops advanced packaging technology. Through the combination of the two technologies, a more powerful small chip can be developed.
AMD has verified this, and it has launched a chip based on a new packaging technology, and its performance is significantly improved compared to traditional packaging technology.
Finally, Moore's Law is failing. The smaller the process, the more difficult the development of chips. 2nm and 1nm chips may be the limit of silicon chips, which means that TSMC will make slow progress in more advanced chips.
This gives SMIC a chance to catch up. As the saying goes, the predecessors planted trees to take advantage of the rest. Samsung and TSMC have already mass-produced chips such as 7nm and 5nm. SMIC naturally has experience to rely on, so there is no need to discredit and make progress The speed will naturally be faster.
What's more, as long as SMIC has mastered chip manufacturing technologies such as 7nm and 5nm, it can fully respond to the vast majority of domestic chip demand. After all, domestic chip demand is mainly concentrated above 28nm.
