TSMC reports breakthrough in 1-nanometer chip fabrication

The semiconductor manufacturer TSMC has developed a material for transistor contact electrodes that will enable the fabrication of chips using a 1-nanometer process. Researchers from National Taiwan University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology participated in the study, Verdict reports.

Engineers found that using semimetallic bismuth as the contact electrode for a two-dimensional material to replace silicon reduces resistance and increases current. This could push energy efficiency for semiconductors to the maximum attainable level, they say.

Currently, TSMC uses tungsten interconnects, which have several limitations and do not allow the technology node to shrink to 1 nm. The new material would address this shortcoming, the scientists say. However, so far it has been used in research samples and is not ready for mass production.

TSMC is currently mastering the 5-nanometer process, and in the second half of 2022 the company plans to begin manufacturing chips at the 3-nm node.

As reported in May 2021, IBM announced a 2-nanometer process for chip production, which would boost processor performance and energy efficiency.

In April, Cerebras unveiled a processor with 850 thousand cores designed for machine learning and artificial intelligence calculations.

In late March, ARM announced the ninth generation of processors with AI support.

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