We will soon see the launch of mass production of semiconductor chips in the United States. TSMC is preparing to start production at its first plant in Arizona. And Samsung Electronics is preparing to start production at its Taylor plant in Texas. But both companies have encountered problems that will clearly delay the launch. Samsung’s Texas plant was planned to produce chips using lithography below 4 nm in order to immediately attract large customers. Later, the company decided to immediately try to launch a pilot production of 2 nm there. However, Samsung is experiencing serious quality problems even within the framework of the current Gate-All-Around (GAA) 3 nm technology. The yield of good chips using this technology is about 50%, while TSMC has achieved the efficiency of its 3 nm process at 60-70%. The transition to 2 nm is associated with even greater difficulties. It seems that the results of the pilot production are so bad that the company is recalling personnel from the plant.
An insider from the semiconductor industry points out that the efficiency of the new process technology is only 10-20%. Obviously, such production is not economically feasible. It is known that Samsung is consulting with equipment manufacturers ASML and Zeiss. But there are no practical results in improving production yet, so Samsung is recalling all key specialists from the United States.
Samsung previously signed an agreement with the US government under the Chip and Science Act (CHIPS) to receive up to $6.4 billion in subsidies to support manufacturing in the US. One of the prerequisites is the launch of a functioning production facility, which the company has not yet been able to achieve. And further delays could jeopardize the allocation of subsidies. At the same time, Samsung itself had big plans for Texas, where it planned to build up to three factories to produce chips.
Source:
Business Korea
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