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TSMC and ASML Seek To Overcome Chipmaking Hurdle

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By TaiwanPlus

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TSMC and ASML are teaming up to overcome a technological bottleneck in advanced chipmaking. ASML’s latest chipmaking tools can print almost three times as many transistors on the same surface as before. But their massive cost and size limitations have kept TSMC from using them. The two companies plan to work together to overcome those constraints. TSMC hopes the collaboration will remove the size limitation by 2033, potentially allowing the chipmaker to make greater use of ASML’s latest technology.

TSMC and ASML Collaborate to Overcome Chipmaking Constraints

REPORTER:  
Chip giant TSMC and equipment maker ASML are going to work together to overcome restrictions with the newest chipmaking technology.

The latest chip tools from ASML can print almost three times as many transistors on the same surface as before. But their massive cost and size limitations keep TSMC from using them. By working together, TSMC hopes to remove the size constraint by 2033.

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TSMC and ASML to Solve Problem with Latest Chipmaking Technology

REPORTER:  
The newest chipmaking machines on the market can print almost three times as many transistors on the same surface. But the world’s largest foundry, TSMC, is not making chips with the new technology, called High-NA EUV. It says it cannot justify the massive equipment costs. But another problem is chip size. The chips TSMC makes for AI datacenters are too big for the new equipment. By working with the only maker of the world’s most advanced chipmaking machines, it now hopes to remove that constraint by 2033. Intel is already making laptop chips with the machines in the United States.

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TSMC Joins Global Chip Initiative

REPORTER:  
Chip giant TSMC has joined an international tech initiative aimed at making more powerful chips.

Dutch lithography giant ASML is working on new tools that can make advanced semiconductors at larger sizes. TSMC plans to start using those tools in 2030. Intel and Samsung are also part of the alliance.

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TSMC Teams Up with ASML to Address Advanced Chipmaking Limits

REPORTER:  
TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker, is teaming up with its competitors and its most important equipment supplier to address a key constraint keeping it from printing finer chips.

Dutch lithography giant ASML has launched a new technology that can further shrink the microscopic features TSMC and others print on chips. Intel is already using the machines to produce laptop chips in the United States. But in Taiwan, TSMC only plans to start using the so-called high-NA EUV machines from 2030. The new technology can currently only print chips half the size of what TSMC makes for clients like Nvidia. The chipmaker says it will work together with ASML to remove that constraint by moving from 6-inch to 12-inch masks. Intel and Samsung have also announced similar cooperations.

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TSMC Collaborates with Competitors and ASML to Enable Smaller Chip Patterns

REPORTER:  
TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker, is teaming up with its competitors and its most important equipment supplier to make printing smaller patterns viable.

Companies such as TSMC, Samsung and Intel depend on lithography machines made by ASML to print ultra-fine circuits on the most advanced chips. The Dutch lithography giant has launched a new technology called High-NA EUV that can create even finer features. Intel is already using the machines in the US to produce laptop chips. But TSMC plans to introduce high-NA from 2030.