Inside TSMC’s Arizona Fab21: America’s most advanced chip factory unveiled
In a video, the world’s largest chip contract manufacturer TSMC provided a look into its new chip factory in the US state of Arizona, which was built for tens of billions of US dollars. We can now see how the company produces state-of-the-art chips in the USA.
A lot of self-praise and US pathos, but also…
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) shows in a published a few weeks ago YouTube video which is actually more of an advertising film for the company’s commitment in the USA, in addition to various hymns of praise from some of the big names in the technology industry and a tribute from the current US president, which is probably necessary in today’s times, as well as how the new so-called Fab21 was built in Arizona.
Although the almost 10-minute film spends a lot of time highlighting its own achievements and the support from US politicians, there is also a part in which the factory can be seen in action. Among other things, starting at around minute 2:30, TSMC shows how the gigantic systems for exposing wafers from the Dutch manufacturer ASML arrived at the factory. TSMC Arizona: A Journey of Innovation and Collaboration
Unusually deep insights into chip production
From around minute 3:30 a short tour of Fab21 begins, during which you can see, among other things, the so-called “Silver Highway”, with which around 700 “pods” transport the wafers on a rail system on the hall ceiling from one machine to the next, where various work steps are carried out. Among other things, you can see how the Automated Material Handling System (AMHS) uses the so-called Front Opening Unified Pods (FOUPs) to transport the 300 mm wafers.
The wafers are currently used in Fab21 to produce chips in the N4 and N5 nodes with 4 and 5 nanometers structure width, respectively. However, a second new expansion stage (Fab21 Phase 2) is expected to be completed soon, which will then be able to produce chips with a structure width of just two or three nanometers.
The focus of the video is also on ASML’s Extreme Ultraviolet Scanners, which carry out the actual exposure of the wafers. Among other things, you can see how mirrors direct the ultraviolet light that is previously created in a chamber by plasma ignition under laser bombardment. TSMC recently announced an acceleration in the expansion of its capacities in the USA, officially citing high demand from local customers in the AI sector as the reason. Likewise, geopolitical considerations from Taiwan (the country is itself the largest shareholder in TSMC) and pressure from US politics are likely to play a significant role in accelerating the project. A new TSMC factory is also being built in this country, but it will produce significantly fewer modern chips for use in the automotive sector.
The factory near Dresden, which was built by a consortium under the name ESMC (European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) with the participation of companies such as Bosch and other automotive suppliers, is intended to “only” produce chips with structure widths of 28, 16 or even 12 nanometers after commissioning, which no longer correspond to the latest state of the art, but are required for many applications, including in the automotive industry become.
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