Global Wafer Foundry Advanced Process Ra

Global Wafer Foundry Advanced Process Race: Industrial Game and Future Scenario at the Nanoscale

 

In the core battlefield of the semiconductor industry, the evolution of advanced process nodes is undoubtedly a nanoscale race centered around technology, ecology, and discourse power. From 7nm to 3nm, and from FinFET to GAA, the process competition among major global wafer foundries not only defines the upper limit of chip performance but also clearly reflects the pattern changes in the entire industry.

 

As a benchmark in process technology, TSMC's evolution path can be described as steady and solid. In 2018, the N7 process was put into mass production, adopting the FinFET process with a transistor density of 80 - 96 MTr/mm². The lithography equipment integrated DUV (multiple exposure) and EUV technologies. The implementation of this process provided a manufacturing basis for a range of flagship chips such as Apple's A12 and Huawei's Kirin 980, successfully firing the first shot in the mass production of advanced processes. By 2020, the N5 process appeared. The FinFET process was further upgraded, and the transistor density jumped significantly to 135 - 143 MTr/mm², with full adoption of EUV lithography, strongly supporting the performance explosion of Apple's A14 and M1 chips. When 2022 came, the N3 process was mass - produced, still based on the FinFET architecture (with GAA introduced in subsequent iterations), and the transistor density exceeded 216 - 224 MTr/mm², becoming one of the densest mass - produced processes at that time. Chips such as Apple's M2 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Gen3 have adopted this process one after another. TSMC has always adhered to the strategy of building barriers with "mass production stability" and "customer ecology", and each generation of processes can quickly form a scale effect, allowing customers to find the optimal solution between performance and cost.

 

Samsung, on the other hand, has chosen a radical path of architecture - first. In 2021, the 5PLE (5nm) process was mass - produced. Under the FinFET process, the transistor density reached 105 - 126 MTr/mm², using EUV lithography. Although it was slightly inferior to TSMC's N5 process in terms of density, Samsung also provided 5nm alternative options for customers such as Qualcomm and MediaTek by optimizing circuit design. In 2022, the 3GAA (3nm) process was mass - produced, and Samsung took the lead in adopting the GAA (Gate - All - Around) architecture, with a transistor density of 150 - 160 MTr/mm². The GAA architecture is regarded as the next - generation evolution direction of FinFET, which can better control leakage and improve energy efficiency. Samsung hopes to seek a breakthrough in the "architecture generation gap" with this architecture and has currently provided foundry services for some high - performance chips. Samsung's logic is very clear, that is, to break the single competition dimension of process density with "architecture innovation" and try to seize the technological commanding heights in the GAA era.

 

Intel, as an enterprise that once lagged behind in advanced processes, has begun to rebound strongly in recent years. The Intel 4 process will be mass - produced in 2025, adopting the FinFET process with a transistor density of 124 - 160 MTr/mm² and using EUV lithography. This process will support Intel's next - generation Core processors, marking its return to mass production of advanced processes. The Intel 18A (RibbonFET) process is expected to be mass - produced in 2026, adopting the "RibbonFET" which is a derivative architecture of GAA, with a transistor density of up to 220 - 238 MTr/mm², targeting the subsequent iterative process of TSMC's N3. Intel's adopted strategy is the full - stack integration of "process + architecture + packaging". Through advanced packaging technologies such as Foveros and EMIB, it makes up for the short - term gap in process nodes and strives to catch up in the GAA era.

 

SMIC's 5nm (N + 3) process is expected to be mass - produced in 2025, adopting the FinFET process with a transistor density of 120 - 125 MTr/mm² and using DUV (SAQP) lithography. As the leading wafer foundry enterprise in China, every step of SMIC's progress has attracted much attention. Although there is still a gap with international leading enterprises in terms of process nodes and equipment, this is an important attempt for domestic semiconductor manufacturing to move towards advanced processes, providing more choices for domestic chip design enterprises and also carrying the hope for the breakthrough of the domestic semiconductor industry.

 

The competition of lithography equipment is another key battlefield in the field of advanced processes. From the actual situation, EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography) has become the standard for 5nm and more advanced processes. The advanced processes of TSMC, Samsung, and Intel all rely on EUV to achieve smaller feature sizes, greatly reducing the complexity of multi - layer exposure, thereby improving yield and efficiency. However, SMIC's 5nm process still uses DUV, which reflects the dilemma of domestic acquisition of EUV equipment (mainly monopolized by ASML). This also means that for domestic processes to achieve a breakthrough, it is necessary not only to overcome the technical problems of the process itself but also to achieve a breakthrough in the equipment supply chain and break the foreign monopoly.

 

From the evolution trend of process types (FinFET→GAA→RibbonFET), it can be clearly seen that the GAA architecture is the core direction of the next - generation process. By upgrading the "fin" of the transistor from "three - dimensional fin - like" to "gate - all - around", it solves the leakage and energy efficiency bottlenecks existing in FinFET from the physical structure. At the same time, the competition in the "post - Moore era" is no longer limited to "single - chip process" but has expanded to the system competition of "process + packaging + materials". Technologies such as TSMC's CoWoS, Intel's Foveros, and Samsung's HBM3 are all actively exploring "how to continue to improve performance beyond the chip", promoting the semiconductor industry to a higher level through multi - dimensional technology integration.

 

This advanced process race among global wafer foundries is essentially a comprehensive competition of "technology iteration speed", "ecological integration capability", and "supply chain control capability". The stability of TSMC, the boldness of Samsung, the catch - up of Intel, and the expectation of SMIC together constitute the most wonderful "technology theater" in the semiconductor industry. For us, the significance of this competition goes far beyond "chip performance". It is related to the discourse power of the industry, the autonomy of technology, and more importantly, the future development of every industry that relies on semiconductor technology, from mobile phones to automobiles, and from AI to aerospace, is closely linked to this race. And in this endless nanoscale race, "continuous innovation" and "ecological resilience" will be the final key to victory.