Semiconductor foundries near 2nm launch, race intensifies

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

With the commercial launch of next-generation 2nm process technology less than a year away, the competition among semiconductor foundry companies to take the lead has intensified. According to industry sources on Monday, TSMC recently updated its partners on the progress of its 2nm technology development, saying that the process is going smoothly and that mass production is slated for the second half of 2025. The company also reported that its new 2nm process, which incorporates gate-all-around (GAA) technology for the first time, achieved 90 percent of its target performance.

GAA technology enhances data processing speed and power efficiency by surrounding the four sides of the current-carrying channel., Samsung Electronics is currently the only foundry company to have applied the next-generation transistor technology, GAA, to its 3nm process. TSMC, which uses the traditional FinFET technology for its 3nm process, plans to switch to GAA from the 2nm process onwards. TSMC claimed that its 2nm process yield under GAA technology is already at a mature level, with test production of 256Mb SRAM samples achieving a yield rate of over 80 percent. The company has already said that the initial production contract volume for its 2nm process is more than twice that of its 5nm process as evidence.

Industry insiders speculate that Apple might be the first customer for TSMC’s 2nm process. TSMC also announced that it plans to commence mass production of the 1.6nm process in 2026, a year after the 2nm process enters mass production.

Samsung Electronics, TSMC’s rival, is also making strides to stay competitive in next-generation process development. Samsung’s Foundry Business Division plans to unveil its foundry technology roadmap at the Samsung Foundry Forum & SAFE Forum 2024 in Silicon Valley that took place from June 12th to 13th, 2024. The forum is noteworthy as it marks the first official event since Jun Young-hyun took office as the new head of Device Solutions (DS) Division.

Samsung is expected to announce an accelerated roadmap for its 1nm process, moving the timeline up by a year from the initially planned 2027 to 2026. The company is also expected to emphasize its collaboration with AMD in advanced processes. AMD CEO Lisa Su unveiled plans to mass produce new semiconductors using Samsung’s 3nm GAA process in May 2024.

Intel, another competitor in the foundry sector, also revealed plans to begin mass production of its 2nm-class ‘20A’ process in the latter half of 2024 and aims to advance to the 1.8nm-class (18A) process the year after.