Last month, TSMC announced the mass production of the 7nm+ process chipsetsthat will power the next line of Huawei and Apple smartphones. Now the company has announced the launch of its research and development facility of the 2nm process node at the Southern Science and Technology Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
TSMC’s announcement makes it the first company to speak openly about the futuristic 2nm architecture. The news comes from TSMC Senior Director Zhuang Zishou who revealed to Taiwanese media that the new 2nm plant will join the development of other next-generation chipset mode plants in Hsinchu, Taiwan, reports TechWeb.
Zishou also disclosed that the company’s 3nm plant will be put into operation in 2021 with mass production of 3nm chips scheduled for 2022. Similarly, TSMC expects to complete R&D and start mass manufacturing the 2nm process by 2024.
TSMC’s 3nm process is reported to have passed EIA with mass production expected to line up as per the previous schedule. The company’s Hsinchu plant currents host 7,000 semiconductor research professionals. The Taiwan fabbing company believes 2nm architecture will be vital as we transition from 10nm/7nm to 5nm and 3nm in the next few years.
Separately, TSMC has also started the mass production of Apple A13 Bionic chips which will be based on the 7nm process and an enhanced EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography method. This will help the Taiwan company gain some traction after Qualcomm chose Samsung Foundry as its fabbing partner to make the Snapdragon 865 chipset.