TSMC, IBM Detail 7-nm Work

Separate talks upbeat on EUV lithography

Rick Merritt, EETimes
12/6/2016 10:30 AM EST

SAN FRANCISCO — Like presents under a Christmas tree, separate papers on 7-nm process technology from TSMC and IBM energized a packed ballroom on the first day of the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM). They showed results nudging forward both Moore’s law and extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV).

TSMC reported the smallest 6T SRAM to date in a process that it aims to put into risk production by April. IBM described the smallest FinFET made to date in a research device made with EUV.

Conference organizers highlighted the papers in October as late-news headliners for the event. Nevertheless, both companies surprised some attendees with more upbeat results than expected.

IBM showed FinFETs with contacted poly pitch of 44/48 nm, a metallization pitch of 36 nm, and a fin pitch of 27 nm. One device included a source-to-drain contact opening of about 10 nm and a gate length of about 15 nm.

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