www.koreatimes.co.kr, May. 20, 2021 –
TSMC appears to be a step ahead of Samsung Electronics in the chip race, as the foundry business frontrunner claims to have succeeded in mass producing semiconductors using ultra-thin 1-nanometer processing technology.
The Taiwan-based company recently announced in the science journal, "Nature," that it had succeeded in developing the technology to mass produce 1-nanometer chips. The feat was achieved through joint research with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and National Taiwan University (NTU).
Researchers succeeded in replacing silicon, an essential material for manufacturing semiconductors, with bismuth, a semimetal, to significantly reduce resistance and increase electrical current capacity. Energy efficiency would thus increase to the highest possible level for the chips.