As the leader in chip foundry, TSMC has been preparing for the future in order to enhance its core competitiveness, and recently it has broken the ice in the 1nm chip process. But what is interesting is that TSMC's new breakthrough this time has invisibly improved the status of my country's semiconductor industry, because most of its "lifeline" is in the hands of the mainland.
Everyone knows that TSMC suddenly announced that it would cut off supply to Huawei , but it taught us a lesson. Although the essence of businessmen is profit-seeking, some bottom lines must always be adhered to. In order to pursue the so-called highest profit and give up the bottom line in your heart, you will definitely be retribution.
This month, TSMC, together with NTU and MIT , released the latest research results on 1nm chips, but unexpectedly, it improved the status of mainland semiconductors.
is about a year and a half ago. Some people suggested that Moore's Law has slowed down, and the specifications of silicon chips can no longer meet the processes below 1 nanometer and 1 nanometer chips. Although chips have been developing at a rapid pace over the past many years, it has only lasted for half a century since the moore law was proposed.
From 1965 to 2010, the number of transistors that can accommodate on integrated circuit will nearly double every one to two years, and the performance has also improved by a big step.
But until 2013, international semiconductor-related institutions found through research that the growth trend of the global semiconductor technology development roadmap had reached the end of 2013. It is expected that in the following time, the density of the number of transistors will continue to double every three years. This will be clear and clear to you after you show the development history of nanochips.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the process technology of the chip was 130 nanometers, but people did not know that the Pentium 3 processor they usually used was using a 130 nanometer chip.
In 2004, 90 nanometers emerged, and Pentium 4 immediately followed suit, so the performance of computers was further improved, and the semiconductor industry at that time had already begun to take shape. Intel Infineon Texas Instruments, IBM TSMC and UMC also quickly mastered the 90-nanometer process and were at the forefront of the times.
In the years that followed, as the nanonumber of chips became smaller and smaller, the mobile phones and smart devices in people's hands became more and more advanced. Until 22-nano chips were released in 2012, semiconductor companies began to divide the "three or six or nine levels". The process of 22nm chips can be achieved by Intel, UMC, GF, TSMC , Samsung and other companies, but when the chip process enters the 14nm stage, UMC cannot keep up with everyone's pace and finally stops there.
Then it reached the 10-nanometer stage. The Intel , which was once the world's only one, was blocked by this "barrier" and could not be avoided. Even if 10-nanometer chips are produced, they can only be used on low-end machines. Therefore, the I5 and I7 processors developed by it cannot use their own chips.
Until 2018, TSMC's 7-nanometer process achieved a breakthrough, but Intel still did not catch up. At this time, GPU was also stumped and could not break through the 7-nanometer process. You should know that at that time, the chip of the Eagle Army and the Aerospace Industry had always relied on GM. Its fall had pushed TSMC to the Eagle Army. In order to make long-term profits, TSMC also directly announced that it would invest 12 billion to build a factory in Yingguo.
Intel is trapped at 10 nanometers, GF is poured at 7 nanometers, and now in the more difficult 5-nanometer chips, only Samsung and TSMC are left. However, among these two companies, Samsung is still lagging behind because it only developed 5-nanometers at the beginning of the year, and mass production will take some time. However, TSMC has achieved 6-nanometer mass production in 2019 and broke through 5-nanometer mass production in 2020, and has long been in a "one-way" attitude.
But facing the critical node from 5 nanometers to 3 nanometers, TSMC is a little overwhelmed, although it has joined hands with two universities to propose that semi-metal bismuth (Bi) can be used as the contact electrode for the chip two-dimensional material.
However, before this result came out, the academic community generally believed that the number of components that could be accommodated by silicon chips has reached its limit, and it would be difficult to double down. Therefore, some people directly proposed whether two-dimensional materials can be replaced by them, because it can control electrons between two dimensions, so the space of silicon chips can be effectively utilized, thereby increasing the number of transistors. But why did TSMC's breakthrough in 1nm chips have enhanced the influence of mainland semiconductors? In fact, there is only one reason, which is the proportion of raw materials, which provides mainland manufacturers with a new direction.
shows you a picture. This is data released by a foreign geological survey bureau. It is the semi-metal bismuth proposed by TSMC. It accounts for a proportion of reserves in countries around the world. Currently, my country's reserves are 240,000 and the global reserves are 320,000, accounting for about three-quarters of the amount. As a major raw material for 1nm chip production, our country is unique in this regard.
However, as we all know, our mineral resources have always been abundant. According to Uncle Luo’s information, the bismuth ore exported by my country each year accounted for 89% of the world’s total bismuth ore output. What kind of figure is this and what it represents? I believe Uncle Luo doesn’t need to elaborate on it too much.
Although TSMC's 1nm chip has just made a breakthrough, it is also a great progress for silicon chips. According to Uncle Luo, the current production of semi-metal bismuth (Bi) is mainly divided into two processes, one is TSMC's deposition process and the other is the helium ion beam microfilm system of the research team of NTU, but their raw material sources are still a problem.
So this is indeed a rare opportunity for the mainland, because once a 1-nanometer chip is mass-produced, semi-metal bismuth (Bi) will definitely become a good thing that the world competes for. Then, as a country with a large raw material production, my country's semiconductor status will inevitably improve accordingly, because we naturally occupy the biggest advantage of the bismuth ore market. This time you should understand why, Uncle Luo wants to say that TSMC has exceeded 1 nanometer, and the mainland may control its "lifeline", because 75% of the global raw materials are in our hands.
Maybe you will say that relying on raw materials alone cannot go far in the semiconductor industry. Indeed, only by mastering core production technology can we gain the right to speak in the field of semiconductor . But what you haven't seen is that my country's chip companies are all racing against time to solve the problem of stumbling for us. I believe that the day when the domestic semiconductor industry rises is not far away from us. Do you think we can rely on 1-nanometer chips that use bismuth to replace silicon elements to gain a foothold in the semiconductor industry? Looking at the world with Uncle Luo, talking about the situation. Friends who like it remember to follow it.
