TSMC wants to start chip production on a 2nm process in 2025

TSMC plans to start producing chips at 2nm in 2025. The N2 node will then use nanosheet transistors. According to the Taiwanese manufacturer, chips made with N2 can run up to 15 percent faster than N3 chips.

In 2025, the first 2nm chips at TSMC roll out of the chip machines and the new node marks the move from chips based on finfets to those on nanosheets. This concerns gate-all-around field-effect transistors that are made up of the nanolayers. In gaa-fets, the channel of transistors is completely enclosed by the gate for faster switching and lower leakage currents. In finfets, the gate overlies the canal, shaped like a fin.

According to TSMC, N2 allows for speed improvements of 10 to 15 percent versus N3E, or a 25 to 30 percent decrease in fuel consumption, or a combination of the two. The node will have a high performance variant and a basic version for mobile chips. In addition, TSMC points to possibilities for chiplet integration. N3E is TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, with production expected to start in mid-2023.

In terms of chip density, roughly the increase in the number of transistors per surface, the comparison between N2 and N3E shows an improvement of 10 percent. It must also be taken into account that the stretch has been reduced to a large extent with SRAM and the analog circuits and the scalability must therefore come from the processing parts, which TSMC takes into account for 50 percent in terms of density. Still drawing both AnandTech if Tom’s Hardware indicates that an improvement of 1.1x is on the low side and that further increases in density are expected in the future in such small steps.