The TSMC 3nm Volume Production and Capacity Expansion Ceremony occurred at the Fab 18 Site.

As was to be expected, TSMC organized a ceremony at Fab 18 to celebrate the beginning of volume production of the 3nm process node and to announce plans for capacity growth.

TSMC Hosts a Ceremony to Mark a Key Milestone for Advanced Manufacturing with the Expansion of Their 3nm Production Capacity and Volume Production.
Statement to the Press: The 3 nanometer (3nm) Volume Production and Capacity Expansion Ceremony was held today by TSMC at its Fab 18 new construction site in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP). The ceremony brought together construction partners, suppliers, central and local government members, the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, and academic community members to witness an essential milestone in the Company’s advanced manufacturing.

TSMC has established a solid platform for expanding 3nm technology and capacity, with Fab 18 in the STSP acting as the Company’s GIGAFAB facility manufacturing both 5nm and 3nm process technology. This has allowed TSMC to provide a strong foundation for these endeavors.

Today, TSMC performed a topping ceremony for its Fab 18 Phase 8 facility and declared that its 3nm technology has successfully started volume production with good yields. In addition, the company made this announcement. Within the first five years of commercial manufacturing, TSMC anticipates that goods utilizing the 3nm technology will have a market value of around $1.5 trillion U.S. dollars.

TSMC Fab 18’s Phases 1 through 8 each contain a cleanroom area that is 58,000 square meters, which is about twice the size of a typical logic fab’s cleanroom space. The overall investment that TSMC will make in Fab 18 will surpass NT$1.86 trillion, creating over 23,500 construction employment and over 11,300 direct job opportunities in high technology. TSMC is not only increasing its 3nm production capacity in Taiwan, but it is also establishing a 3nm production capacity at its location in Arizona.

TSMC said that the worldwide R&D Center that the company would be established in the Hsinchu Science Park will formally open in the second quarter of 2023 and that 8,000 R&D workers will man it. TSMC is also preparing for its 2nm fabs, which will be placed in the Hsinchu and Central Taiwan Science Parks, with six phases going as planned. TSMC has a total of six degrees planned.

The 3nm Volume Production and Capacity Expansion Ceremony was presided over by TSMC Chairman Dr. Mark Liu. Notable guests who attended the event included Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-Hua, Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-Tsong, Tainan City Mayor Huang Wei-Che, STSP Administration Bureau Director-General Su Chen-Kang, Chairman of Fu Tsu Construction Cliff Lin, Chairman of United Integrated Services Belle.

“TSMC is maintaining its technology leadership while investing significantly in Taiwan, continuing to invest and prosper with the environment. This 3nm Volume Production and Capacity Expansion Ceremony demonstrates that we are taking concrete action to develop advanced technology and expand capacity in Taiwan,” TSMC Chairman Dr. Mark Liu said at the ceremony. “We aim to grow together with our upstream and downstream supply chain and develop future talent from design to manufacturing, packaging and testing, equipment, and materials to provide the most competitive advanced process technology and reliable capacity for the world and drive technology innovation in the future.”

TSMC is dedicated to thriving in the natural environment through green manufacturing. The construction that TSMC does in the STSP adheres to the green building certification requirements established by Taiwan’s EEWH and the United States’ LEED.

Additionally, water resources from the STSP Reclaimed Water Plant will be used at the facilities to get the corporation closer to its goal of using reclaimed water in an amount equal to sixty percent by 2030. As soon as volume production starts, Fab 18 will begin using renewable energy at a rate of 20% to meet its long-term sustainability objective of using 100% renewable energy and producing zero emissions by the year 2050.

In terms of power, performance, area (PPA), and transistor technology, the 3nm process that TSMC uses is the most advanced semiconductor technology currently available. This process represents a full-node advancement from the 5nm generation.

Compared to the 5nm (N5) process, TSMC’s 3nm process provides an increase in logic density of up to 1.6X and a decrease in power consumption of 30-35% while maintaining the same processing speed. Additionally, it supports the unique TSMC FINFLEX architecture.