‘TSMC works with AMD and Google on 3d stacking of chips’

TSMC is working with AMD and Google on the 3d stacking of chips. Nikkei Asia reports this. The manufacturer would like to produce these 3d chips at a new fab in Taiwan. In addition, TSMC has completed construction of another fab for 3nm this week.

According to Nikkei sources, the 3d chip manufacturing facility should be ready by 2021. This fab is located in Miaoli, Taiwan. A year later, mass production would begin at that production facility, the paper reports, based on anonymous sources. With 3d stacking, different parts for a chip can be ‘stacked’ on top of each other. Intel, for example, already uses this principle with its Lakefield processors, where the cores and I / O components are stacked on top of each other. That company also places Lpddr4x-4266 memory chips on the processor. Other foundries, such as Samsung, are also working on 3D stacked chips.

According to Nikkei, AMD and Google will be the first customers for TSMC’s stacked chips, which the foundry would call SoIC chips. The two companies would be the first to purchase these chips, as well as assist in the testing and ‘certification’ of these SoICs. Although no specific details are shared yet, AMD could also release 3d chips in the future. That company is currently already using so-called 2.5d stacking with different chips in its CPUs. Google, in turn, would like to use the 3d chips for autonomous vehicles, in addition to ‘other usage scenarios’.

Furthermore, Digitimes reported earlier this week that TSMC has finished building its 3nm manufacturing facility in Taiwan. This fab is due to start mass production of 3nm chips in 2022. TSMC already shared details about its 3nm node in April. This will be the last TSMC process to use finfets. The company already stated that 3nm mass production would start in the second half of 2022.