6 days ago
Despite EUV ban, Huawei could send 3nm design to SMIC as soon as next year
Exactly one year ago today we told you about Huawei and SMIC's plan to build 3nm chips. A patent filed by Huawei discussed how the latter and the world's third-largest foundry, SMIC, would use self-aligned quadruple patterning (SAQP) lithography to replace the extreme ultraviolet lithography machines that are banned in China. As a result, Huawei would move a step closer to matching the advanced SoCs turned out by TSMC and Samsung Foundry. Fast forward one year to today and a new report out of Taiwan claims that Huawei has started R&D work on a method to produce 3nm chips for the domestic chip industry. Huawei is reportedly pleased with the method used by SMIC to build the 5nm Kirin X90 chip used to power the Mate Book Pro laptop. The foundry supposedly used older Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) machines, purchased by SMIC before the U.S. chip ban took effect, to make these SoCs.
Should Huawei and SMIC continue to rely on DUV machines, the lithography will require the use of multiple impressions on silicon wafers (double, triple, or even quadruple patterning) which pushes up the cost of making a chip especially as yields decline. The use of multiple impressions results in the transfer of circuitry patterns to silicon wafers that are less precise and sharp as such designs would be using the lithography machines that are blocked from getting shipped to China. This lowers the foundry's yield and raises the cost of the chips made using this method.
The 5nm Kirin 9000 was made by TSMC in 2020 just before U.S. sanctions hit
The 3nm chips made for Huawei will use Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistors which only Samsung Foundry uses at 3nm. GAA transistors surround the channel with the gate on all four sides reducing current leaks and improving the drive current. The result is a more powerful chip with better performance and energy efficiency. Huawei is also supposed to tinker with the usual silicon design and opt for the use of "two-dimensional" materials which is also supposed to improve chip performance and lower energy consumption.
Aside from these changes, Huawei is believed to be developing a 3nm node that uses carbon nanotubes instead of silicon transistors. The report calls for Huawei to have completed the design phase for its 3nm node next year, which is also known as the "Tape-out" stage. At that point, Huawei sends the completed and verified design to SMIC allowing the foundry to prepare for the manufacturing of chips using the 3nm node.
Huawei was already obtaining 5nm chips from TSMC in 2020 when the U.S. sanctions started to bite preventing Huawei from obtaining cutting-edge chips from foundries like TSMC. Huawei was forced to use 4G Snapdragon application processors made by Qualcomm before the 7nm Kirin 9000s was used to power the Mate 60 Pro. This shocking development brought 5G back to Huawei's handsets.
