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In the middle of last May Dr. Kiman expert in the manufacture of integrated circuits who has worked in Samsung and who currently investigates for TSMC in the US SMIC (Semiconductor manufacturing international corp) I was about to Start 5 nm chips production. And also that he planned to launch his first 3 Nm nodes equipped with GAA transistors (Gate-alall-around) in 2026.
This company is the largest Chinese manufacturer of semiconductors, and has been working on the development of its own 5 Nm photolithography with Huawei. For these two companies to have the ability to manufacture their own 5 Nm chips is crucial, but they are having serious problems with this integration technology. Dr. Kim pointed in May that the performance by wafer that SMIC had reached in this node was less than 30%, but now there are two antagonistic means, the Canadian platform Techinsights and the Chinese newspaper SCMPthose that support the difficulties faced by Huawei and SMIC.
According to Techinsights the new laptop Matebook Fold Ultimate Design Huawei incorporates a soc Kirin X90 manufactured by SMIC. Nothing striking here. What is surprising is that the chip of this ambitious team is not produced in the 5 Nm node. SMIC is manufacturing it in its second -generation 7 NM node (N+2) using an integrated circuit production technique known as Multiple patterning. This strategy in broad strokes consists in transferring the pattern to the wafer in several passes with the purpose of increasing the resolution of the lithographic process.
China needs avant -garde lithographs, but endures thanks to mature chips
The problem facing SMIC and Huawei, as we have explained in other articles, is that the Multiple patterning It has an upward impact on the cost of chips and the decrease in production capacity. These two Chinese companies have been forced to use this technique in their equipment deep ultraviolet lithography (UVP) because the prohibitions of the United States and the Netherlands prevent the Dutch company Asml from selling their machine their machines in Chinese extreme ultraviolet photolithography (UVE). The latter allow to produce more advanced semiconductors than UVP equipment.
According to Techinsightts, the new Matebook Fold Ultimate Design Matebook of Huawei incorporates a SOC Kirin X90 manufactured by SMIC
In current circumstances it is reasonable to conclude that Huawei has not yet incorporated 5 Nm chips manufactured by SMIC in its most advanced equipment because the production of these integrated circuits is still very limited. This is what Techinsight and SCMP supports. And we think about it too. However, there is something important that we should not ignore. As I mentioned a few lines above, China needs avant -garde photolithographies To have the ability to make chips as advanced as those produced by South Korean companies Samsung or SK Hynix, Taiwanese TSMC or Intel or Micron Technology Americans. But, curiously, the Chinese semiconductor industry is surviving Thanks to mature chips.
In fact, in 2024 it produced 12.5% more than in 2023. It is not bad at all, especially if we are in mind that US sanctions and their allies prevent Chinese manufacturers of integrated circuits accessing UVE lithography equipment. And since 2024 they cannot buy more UVP lithography machines. For a good part of 2022 the production of China semiconductors suffered an important fall and did not begin to recover until the end of that same year. Of course, in 2023 this industry grew almost constantly, and in 2024, as we have just seen, the rebound was monumental, especially in the final stretch of the year.
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In this situation it is reasonable that we ask ourselves what kind are the integrated circuits that are producing the Chinese manufacturers. And the answer is very revealing: these are chips derived from mature integration technologiesusually of 28 nm or less advanced. After all, the semiconductors that we find mostly on electronic devices, appliances or cars, among other products, have been produced using them.
More information | Techinsights | SCMP
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The news
The two most important chip companies in China have a problem: the 5 Nm have been choked
It was originally posted in
Xataka
by
Juan Carlos López
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