At the TSMC North America Technology Symposium, the company showcased its advanced logic, speciality, and 3D IC technologies as well as N2 process powered by nanosheet transistors and the unique FINFLEX technology for the N3 and N3E processes.
It also has N3P, a performance-enhanced version, N3S, a density-enhancing version and the N3X, an ultra-high performance version some time in 2024.
TSMC N2 Technology
TSMC’s N2 technology promises 10-15% speed improvement at the same power, or 25-30% power reduction at the same speed of N3 technology. The company said that N2 will feature nanosheet transistor architecture to deliver a full-node improvement in performance and power efficiency.
The N2 technology platform includes a high-performance variant in addition to the mobile compute baseline version, as well as comprehensive chiplet integration solutions. The TSMC N2 technology is expected to go into production in 2025 with risk production expected in the second half of 2024.
Earlier reports revealed that Apple’s A16 chip will still use 5nm process.
TSMC FINFLEX for N3 and N3E
TSMC said that its N3 3nm process technology, that will enter volume production later in 2022, will feature the FINFLEX architectural innovation. This offers choices of different standard cells with a 3-2 fin configuration for ultra performance, a 2-1 fin configuration for best power efficiency and transistor density, and a 2-2 fin configuration providing a balance between the two for Efficient Performance.
Regarding this, TSMC said:
With TSMC FINFLEX architecture, customers can create system-on-chip designs precisely tuned for their needs with functional blocks implementing the best optimized fin configuration for the desired performance, power and area target, and integrated on the same chip.
TSMC said that it is developing N6e, the next evolution in process technology tuned to provide the computing power and energy efficiency required by edge AI and IoT devices. N6e will be based on TSMC’s advanced 7nm process and is expected to have three times greater logic density than N12e.
It will serve as a part of TSMC’s Ultra-Low Power platform, a comprehensive portfolio of logic, RF, analog, embedded nonvolatile memory, and power management IC solutions aimed at applications in edge AI and the Internet of Things.
The N7 chips are already in production for both CoW and WoW, support for N5 technology is scheduled for 2023. SoIC and other TSMC 3DFabric system integration services, and the world’s first fully automated 3DFabric factory is set to begin production in the second half of 2022, said the company.