htmlOn May 18, TSMC suddenly announced that it had broken through 1 nanometer chips, leaving Samsung behind again. However, as a leading global chip foundry company, TSMC must have not expected that this rainy day would improve the status of my country's semiconductor industry. Panda Jun was also curious about what was going on.
Everyone knows that each chip is composed of countless small transistors. The smaller the chip's process, the smaller the transistor, and the more transistors it will accommodate. For mobile phones, the smaller the chip's process, the smaller the resistance will be, and the power consumption of the mobile phone will be lower. At this time, the heat generated when the chip works will also become smaller, so that the mobile phone will be more power-saving. Now that TSMC has broken through the 1nm process, the benefits for consumers are naturally self-evident. is just how TSMC does it.
chip manufacturing process is very complex and involves many processes. In addition, the nano-scale process is very fine, and it is not easy to break through the process below 5 nanometers. Although silicon provides the main raw materials for many semiconductor companies, when the chip's process process develops to 5 nanometers, the chip capacity used to accommodate the transistor. It will reach its limit. TSMC broke through the 1nm process this time because they found a new material, that is, bismuth metal. With this important material, it can enhance the current capacity, effectively reduce resistance, greatly improve the chip capacity, and improve the chip's performance again. However, there is a saying that Feng Shui turns around. Previously, TSMC cut off supply to Huawei, but this time it improved my country's position in the chip field. As for why such remarks are happening, is actually because my country controls the lifeblood of bismuth metal.
Panda Jun found that in the global bismuth metal reserve data, the total global volume is 320,000, while my country's reserves are 240,000, directly occupying 75% of the world's reserves , and directly becoming a major raw material country for the 1nm chip process. This unique resource can be said to be a reward for God. As a country with a vast land and a wealth of materials, my country's mineral resources have always been very rich. Relevant data shows that my country's bismuth mineral production has always ranked first in the past two years. I believe everyone has spoken out of the way, except for Taiwan. In addition to the effect of accumulation, bismuth metal is a great progress for silicon chips. According to Panda Jun, the production of bismuth metal is now divided into two processes, one is TSMC's deposition process and the other is the helium ion beam microfilm system of the NTU technology team. However, for them, the source of raw materials is still a problem, so this is a rare opportunity for the mainland. Once a 1-nanometer chip is mass-produced, bismuth metal will definitely become the target of competition among countries. At that time, as a major raw material production country, my country's semiconductor status will be improved accordingly, but we cannot ignore TSMC's major breakthrough.
When it comes to the development of the semiconductor industry, we have to mention Moore's Law , which is the world's recognized rule of the semiconductor industry . However, a year and a half ago, someone proposed the prediction that Moore's Law would fail, and believed that the specifications of silicon chips in the future will not be able to continue to meet the 1-nanometer process technology. What surprised Panda Jun was that although the chip industry has been developing rapidly, Moore's Law has only been maintained for half a lifetime. 2. From 1965 to the next 45 years, the number of transistors that an integrated circuit can accommodate will double every one to two years, and its performance is also greatly improved. However, since 2013, the development of semiconductor technology in the global semiconductor technology has begun to slow down. Since the end of 2013, the density of transistors has begun to double every three years. In order to let everyone understand more clearly, Panda Jun will introduce the development history of nanochips.
In fact, in the early 21st century, the process technology of chips was still 130 nanometers. However, people didn't know that the Pentium 3 processor used a 130-nanometer chip. It was not until 2004 that Pentium 4 followed the pace. The computer performance that could not be broken through before was also improved. The semiconductor industry also began to take shape. Intel IBM and TSMC companies rushed to master the 90-nanometer process and have since been at the forefront of the times, but this is the semiconductor industry and has not divided the level.
In the following years, the number of nanochips became smaller and smaller, and the mobile phones and smart devices purchased by consumers became more and more advanced. Major companies also began to compete secretly. After the 22-nanometer chip was released, many companies could achieve it. However, when the 14-nanometer process technology appeared, UMC began to lose control and gradually fell behind until it disappeared into the competition. Intel, which finally reached 10-nanometer and has always been far ahead, was blocked by process barriers. Although it finally produced 10-nanometer chips, it could not be applied to high-end devices. At this time, TSMC caught up.
achieved a technological breakthrough of 7 nanometers in 2018. After it developed to 5 nanometers, only TSMC and Samsung were left. However, it is obvious that Samsung lags behind TSMC because it only developed a 6-nanometer chip at the beginning of this year. TSMC had already achieved 6-nanometer mass production two years ago and achieved 5-nanometer mass production in 2020, leaving Samsung far behind. In fact, Panda Jun found that TSMC was already a little overwhelmed when it conquered 3 nanometers, but with bismuth metal, it greatly increased the number of transistors and was far ahead again. was just TSMC that did not expect that my country would account for 75% of the global bismuth metal reserves. So can my country overtake this curve?
Panda Jun thinks that if TSMC wants to obtain a stable supply of raw materials in the new process technology, it will reconsider the relationship with the mainland. After all, my country has the highest bismuth metal reserves. After all, having resources represents the initiative in development, which allows us to no longer have any worries about technical resources in a short period of time. Although we cannot go long by relying solely on raw materials, our chip industry has been racing against time to overcome difficulties. In order not to be choked, it has been working hard. Panda Jun believes that the domestic semiconductor industry will definitely rise.
