TSMC has provided an update on Complementary Field Effect Transistor (CFET) research as part of the company’s European Technology Symposium 2023, revealing it has a working CFET in its own lab. But even with the progress TSMC has made so far, the technology is still in its infancy and several generations away from mass production. On the other hand, CFETs will be followed by gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, which TSMC plans to introduce in the upcoming N2 (2nm class) production node.
One of TSMC’s long-term bets as the eventual successor to GAAFETs, CFETs are expected to outperform GAAFETs and FinFETs in terms of power efficiency, performance and transistor density. However, these potential benefits are theoretical and subject to overcoming significant engineering challenges in manufacturing and design. In particular, CFETs require very precise lithography to integrate both n-type and p-type FETs into one device and to determine the most ideal materials to ensure proper electronic properties. (think high NA EUV tools). .
Like any chip fab, TSMC works with many types of transistor designs, and it’s important to have CFETs running in the lab. But it’s also quite unexpected. Researchers elsewhere have assembled CFETs before, so now it’s up to the industry-focused TSMC to find a way to bring them to mass production. That’s why TSMC stresses that CFETs aren’t coming anytime soon.
“Let me be clear about that roadmap, anything beyond nanosheets is what we have on our plans.” [roadmap] I want to tell you that the future is still there,” said Kevin Chan, Senior Vice President of Technology Roadmap and Business Strategy. There are also add-ons to 1D materials -[based transistors] […]All of them are currently under study for potential future candidates, but it is not exactly possible to say that transistor architecture will go beyond nanosheets. ”
In fact, research projects take a long time, and when you have many projects running in parallel, you never know which one will pay off. Even at that point, it’s hard to tell which of the potential structural candidates TSMC (or any other fab) will choose. Ultimately, fabs must meet the needs of large customers (e.g. Apple, AMD, MediaTek, Nvidia, Qualcomm). When this production node is ready for mass production.
That’s why TSMC plans to use the GAA structure for years to come, Zhang said.
“Nanosheets start at 2nm, but it’s reasonable to project, and the nanosheets will be used for at least several generations,” Zhang asked rhetorically. “So if we think about CFETs, we [FinFETs] 5 generations, that is, over 10 years.perhaps [device structure] If you don’t have to worry about other people’s affairs, you can keep writing stories. ”
Source; TSMC European Technology Symposium 2023
