Shape the future with TSMC
At our Kumamoto fab, your focus will initially be on 12/16 nanometer and 22/28 nanometer process technology. First, a bit of history: In 2011, TSMC became the first foundry to deliver 28nm general purpose process technology. We offer the world’s most comprehensive 28nm process portfolio, helping companies across the industrial spectrum make products that are high-performing, efficient and ecologically friendly.
To be more precise, our 28nm process technology powers applications from central processing units (CPUs) to graphic processors (GPUs), high-speed networking chips, smartphones, application processors (APs), tablets, home entertainment, consumer electronics, and the internet of things (IoT).
Our 22nm technology is built on this industry-leading platform. In addition to 28nm high-performance compact (HPC) chips, we offer 22nm ultra-low power (22ULP) and 22nm ultra-low leakage (22ULL) products to reduce power consumption even further. For example, 22ULP chips are 30% faster than 28HPC while using 30% less power for applications such as image processing, digital TVs and smartphones.
TSMC was the first foundry to adopt Fin Field Effect (FinFET) transistors with our 16nm technology, which began risk production in 2013, and in 2017, 16FF+ technology began production for customer applications in the automotive industry. TSMC's 12/16nm provides the best performance among the industry's 14/16 nm offerings. Compared to TSMC's 20nm SoC process, 12/16nm is 50% faster and consumes 60% less power at the same speed. It provides superior performance and `power consumption advantage for next generation high-end mobile computing, network communication, consumer and automotive electronic applications.
Customer demand is shifting from being process technology-centric to product application-centric. With this in mind, we offer four technology platforms that bring together the best combination of logic process technologies, speciality technologies, IPs and packaging and testing technologies for the following four areas: smartphone, high performance computing (HPC), IoT, and automotive.
We also continue to invest heavily in R&D. This is a priority in Japan as it is globally: in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, we are establishing a three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) R&D center, to carry our advanced semiconductor packaging and testing into the future. 3D silicon stacking and advanced packaging is a critical part of the semiconductor industry’s future, and with this facility, Japan will be at the forefront of international development.
Globally, our R&D focus is on beyond-2nm nodes, 3D transistors, and low-R interconnect, which represent the future foundation of our technology platforms. We have renewed our focus on technologies such as RF and 3D intelligent sensors for 5G and smart IoT applications. And our Corporate Research function, which we established in 2017, focuses on novel material, process, device, nanowire and memory solutions.
We also collaborate with other industry and academic research bodies with the goal of extending Moore’s Law and developing increasingly high-performance, power-efficient and cost-effective processes for our customers.