Yesterday, TSMC unveiled its latest A13 node preview at the North America Technology Symposium, highlighting the company's ongoing developments. However, the most significant news isn't about a new node but the technology behind it. TSMC announced it would rely on older ASML Low-NA EUV tools instead of the more expensive High-NA EUV scanners. With the High-NA EUV scanner priced at about €350 million ($410 million), the capital expenditure required to equip a modern facility is substantial. TSMC claims it can maintain a competitive advantage using the existing Low-NA EUV technology, which costs roughly half as much per machine. Kevin Zhang, TSMC's deputy Co-COO and SVP, noted to Reuters, "This is where I think our R&D has done exceptionally well in terms of leveraging existing EUV technology while setting an aggressive technology scaling roadmap. This is definitely a strength." TSMC's use of Low-NA EUV lithography involves a technique called multi-patterning, where the EUV machine takes multiple passes to etch a design on a single layer. By performing two Low-NA etching runs, TSMC can achieve benefits similar to High-NA exposure, effectively reducing the need for new tools. However, there are limitations to the Low-NA multi-patterning technique, which will be addressed later by introducing High-NA systems, but only for nodes at 1 nm and below. For now, and for recent nodes, TSMC sees a way to maximize performance from the existing Low-NA systems at a much lower capital expenditure than would be required for High-NA systems.
