Unveiling TSMC’s N2 Technology Roadmap by End of 2025, Followed by A16 by End of 2026.

TSMC recently held the North America Technology Symposium, showcasing upcoming technologies set to emerge in the next two years. From existing technologies being enhanced to brand new innovations, the event covered a wide spectrum.

The N4C technology improves upon the current N4P without specifying the extent of size reduction but boasts a higher yield, ultimately leading to a maximum 8.5% reduction in production costs. Customers can utilize the same design rules as N4P but with new circuit components.

The TSMC NanoFlex serves as the foundational design for manufacturing in N2 technology, enabling customers to design high-performance chips. N2 is expected to roll out fully halfway through 2025.

Moving forward, the TSMC A16 technology offers increased speeds of 8-10% with the same power consumption as N2P, or lower energy usage by 15-20% if matched with N2P speeds. This is made possible by the Super Power Rail (SPR) power delivery system.

Introducing the System-on-Wafer (TSMC-SoW) technology, allowing for integration of multiple chips on a single wafer, providing more flexibility in chip placement and increased HBM memory stacking capability, even potentially enabling server integration on silicon substrates.

The Compact Universal Photonic Engine (COUPE) data transmission system using light will debut around 2025, operating with the CoWoS package for multiple chip integration on silicon wafers, particularly popular in AI chips by 2026.

Additionally, a new packaging system for automotive applications, meeting the stringent AEC-Q100 Grade 2 standard for extreme temperature resistance from -40 to 105 degrees Celsius, leveraging the popular Integrated Fan-Out (InFO) and CoWoS technologies for high-power AI chips, paving the way for high-performance chip embedding in self-driving cars.

TSMC’s technology showcase caters to a relatively niche group, with around 2,000 chip designers in attendance, signifying significant growth compared to earlier events where participation was limited to less than 100 individuals.

TLDR: TSMC unveiled a range of cutting-edge technologies at the North America Technology Symposium, including advancements in N4C, NanoFlex, A16, System-on-Wafer, COUPE, and automotive packaging, showcasing the evolution in chip design and manufacturing.