TSMC recently received the go-ahead from Taiwan’s Environmental Review Committee to build a new 2nm fabrication plant within the country. According to a report by Nikkei, the new factory will be based in the city of Hsinchu, which also happens to be the headquarters of TSMC.
Construction of the 2nm plant is expected to begin sometime in early 2022, with no specific date given. The construction is expected to be done in phases; phase two of the construction, when all the foundry equipment that is necessary to begin the fabrication process is installed, is only expected to commence in the following year. Once completed, TSMC expects manufacturing of its 2nm chip to be fully operational by 2024.
One of the main draws and appeal of the 2nm process is that it is expected to use gate-all-around (GAA) transistors. Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole ton of detail about the process yet, and TSMC isn’t about the share details about the process anytime soon.
In regards to the size of the facility, the report says that TSMC’s plant will take up 50 acres of land. On a related note, TSMC also apparently has plants to establish a second 2nm GigaFab facility, quite possibly within the Ciaotou Science and Industrial Park, located in Kaohsiung.
(Source: Nikkei via Techspot)
