3nm chips are up and coming, and it's rumoured that yields are actually pretty good. Business Next, citing multiple analysts and experts, claims that TSMC's yields are significantly higher than Samsung Foundry's for their 3GAE (3nm-class, gate-all-around early) node.
TSMC began mass production of chips based on its first N3 (3nm-class) fabrication process several months after Samsung Foundry kicked off high-volume manufacturing using its 3GAE node. TSMC's N3 yields might be as low as 60% to 70% or as high as 75% to 80%, according to analysts and specialists in the semiconductor industry contacted by Business Next. Dan Nystedt, a financial expert, tweeted that TSMC's current N3 yields are comparable to N5 yields early in its ramp-up, which the media has said might be as high as 80%.
The allegation, which relies on unnamed industry sources, claims that Samsung Foundry's 3GAE yields in the beginning ranged from 10% to 20% and have not increased since then. There was also a wide range in chip quality, according to the research. Estimates for TSMC's current N3 yields are all over the place, but there are a few key points to keep in mind. First, we do not know if yields are determined only for commercial wafers processed through Fab 18 at TSMC, or if they also include shuttle (test) wafers that contain TSMC's customers' unique intellectual property. Aside from TSMC and its clientele, no one else is aware of the precise yield rate of commercial or shuttle wafers. Third, market speculation suggests that TSMC's N3 is only being used to produce a handful of early adopter designs on commercial wafers at the moment.
Because Apple is TSMC's largest customer and its alpha client for leading-edge nodes, and because the Cupertino, California, high-tech giant adapts its designs to TSMC's capabilities, initial yields might be as high as 80%. Meanwhile, a yield rate of 60% may not be very high for a chip (or chips) intended to power mass-market items. Since the number of N3 designs TSMC produces commercially is small (we would guess that it barely reaches three ICs for now), and the yields-related data is a closely guarded trade secret of the foundry and its clients, we are unable to make any definitive statements on the foundry's N3 yields. Similar considerations lead us to recommend against drawing early comparisons between TSMC's N3 yields and Samsung Foundry's 3GAE yields. Also, speculations about the first N3 node (also known as N3B) suggest that Apple may be the only business to embrace it, as other companies are expected to switch to N3E, which has a better process window. While early N3 yields may not apply to N3E (and other nodes from its N3 technology family), this process technology is something that the industry as a whole should care about because of its widespread adoption.
Materials, fab equipment tools, process recipes, and countless other aspects all play a role in the hundreds of stages involved in today's semiconductor production methods. Thus, there may be hundreds of methods to increase or decrease yields, and it is crucial to have a thorough comprehension of how each aspect impacts the others. Early N3 yields are encouraging for the remainder of TSMC's nodes, but they do not guarantee that the other N3 (N3B), N3E, N3S, N3P, and N3X technologies will be as successful (or not as successful). Take all of the numbers with a grain of salt, as TSMC did not comment on the news item (and will never comment on yields).
TSMC 3nm Yields Between 60% and 80%
