Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) plans to start using 450-millimeter wafers to build its processors in 2018, following delays in the development of the new manufacturing technology.
TSMC, a contract manufacturer of smartphone and tablet chips, will start pilot production of the 450-mm wafer in 2016 or 2017, with actual volume production occurring in 2018, said Michael Kramer, a company spokesman.
Industry chip makers have been using disc-like silicon wafers at the 300-mm size to build their processors. But upgrading to the 450-mm level, which has 2.5 times more surface area, would allow companies to produce more chips from each wafer.
"More efficient manufacturing per chip, means costs will go down in a time when all these new generation of technologies are appearing," Kramer said. "R&D costs are soaring, so anything you can do to help bring costs down is much appreciated."
The chip industry, however, has been slow to move forward to 450-mm wafer manufacturing, as billions of dollars are needed to invest in building the tools and factories to produce the wafers.
TSMC was planning on using 450-mm wafers in 2015, according to some media reports.
"The 450-mm wafer has been pushed back quite a few times. There may have been an earlier schedule," Kramer said. "This production takes quite a lot of coordinated effort from all over the industry."
Both Intel and TSMC have recently invested in tool maker ASML in the Netherlands to help develop technologies including for 450-mm wafer production.
If TSMC is able to maintain its product roadmap, the 450-mm wafers will be used to produce company chips using a 10-nanometer manufacturing process. These chips are expected to be more power-efficient and faster than the company's current 28-nm chips, which are TSMC's newest processors to hit the market.
