(08-04-2023, 06:07 PM)Tee tiong huat Wrote: China’s top chip maker SMIC achieves 7-nm tech breakthrough on par with Intel, TSMC and Samsung, analysts say
SMIC took two years to achieve the leap from 14-nm to 7-nm, faster than TSMC and Samsung, TechInsights said
Experts said it is technically possible for SMIC to produce 7-nm chips even without the most advanced production equipment
China seems to have figured out how to make 7nm chips despite US sanctions
Chinese semiconductor giant SMIC has reportedly been manufacturing 7-nanometer chips since last year, the best sign yet that China has found a way to develop advanced components despite US efforts to curb the country's homegrown silicon capabilities.
This is based on findings from American semiconductor analyst firm TechInsights, which recently bought a cryptocurrency-mining ASIC manufactured by SMIC and found that it uses a 7nm process after doing a study of the chip's die. The ASIC is designed by a company called MinerVa, which has been mass producing the chip since July 2021, according to its website.
TechInsights said SMIC's 7nm process appears to be a "close copy" of the one used by Taiwanese foundry giant TSMC. However, the firm said the custom chip was likely a "steppingstone" for SMIC achieving a "true 7nm process" that includes both scaled logic and memory bitcells.
The reason for this is crypto-mining ASICs "likely do not feature the typical bitcell memory that true 7nm technology definition requires," so it's more feasible that the chip is mostly a demonstration of 7nm logic.
"This is the most advanced technology product TechInsights has seen from SMIC so far and may be leading to a true 7nm process that incorporates scaled logic and memory bitcells," TechInsights said.
The development will likely be received as bad news for the US government, which has been trying to slow down China's ability to manufacture advanced chips over national security concerns.
While the 7nm crypto-mining chip is probably meant for consumer or commercial use, the process node will likely end up in military applications in China due to the country's "military-civil fusion" doctrine, where private companies must share their technologies with the nation's military.
US expands efforts to hamstring China's chipmaking mojo. China 'must seize TSMC' if the US were to impose sanctions
Almost two-thirds of SMIC's Shanghai employees are living at work
China's military technology push was the reason Uncle Sam added SMIC,
the Middle Kingdom's largest domestic chipmaker, to the US Treasury Department's entity list in December 2020. This was meant to prevent SMIC from acquiring certain American technologies. The United States put a specific restriction in place for items that would allow SMIC to manufacture chips at 10nm or lower.
Even before that, the US had successfully pressured the Dutch government to block ASML — the only provider of extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) lithography machines used to make chips on leading-edge nodes, such as 7nm — from selling such systems to China.
Despite US efforts, China has apparently managed to create finished products on a 7nm node.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/22/c...7nm_chips/
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