Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s leading advanced chipmaker, officially began volume production of its 2-nanometer chips in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a recent update on the company’s Web site.
The low-key announcement confirms that TSMC, the go-to chipmaker for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware providers Nvidia Corp and iPhone maker Apple Inc, met its original roadmap for the next-generation technology.
Production is currently centered at Fab 22 in Kaohsiung, utilizing the company’s first-generation nanosheet transistor technology. The new architecture achieves “full-node strides in performance and power consumption,” TSMC said.
Photo: Reuters
The company described the 2nm process as the most advanced in the semiconductor industry in terms of transistor density and energy efficiency, adding that it is designed to “address the increasing need for energy-efficient computing,” particularly for AI and mobile applications.
TSMC did not specify an exact start date for mass production during its most recent investor conference in mid-October, making the Web site update the first official confirmation that the milestone has been reached.
Compared with the N3E process used for its 3nm chips, the 2nm chips offer a 10 percent to 15 percent speed increase at the same level of power consumption, or a 25 percent to 30 percent reduction in power at the same speed. Transistor density is also increased by more than 15 percent.
Looking ahead, TSMC is already developing the N2P manufacturing process, an enhanced version of the 2nm node, which is slated for mass production in the second half of next year.
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