Chinese company SMIC has officially achieved volume production of its newest 5 nm-class node called SMIC N+3. This is officially China's most advanced semiconductor node produced without any extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools, relying on the deep ultraviolet (DUV) to manufacture its silicon...

The source is this paywalled report, the headline of which notably doesn’t go as far as the techpowerup one, though that might just be to bait people into buying access to the full report.

I know very little about fabrication itself, but it seems like the gist is it’s impressive, but pretty expensive and pushing the limits of what’s realistic with DUV. I wonder what the plan is if China still can’t source (or develop) EUV tech soon?

  • SouffleHuman@lemmy.mlEnglish
    7·
    3 days ago

    Huawei actually already has an EUV prototype, and is believed to be currently in the process being tested and undergoing trial ruins. If all goes well, mass production should begin either next year or in 2027. It apparently uses a different approach to ASML’s, so there is a bit of risk, but it is theoretically sound and I have confidence that they could figure it out.