Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has broken ground on its $12 billion semiconductor fab in Arizona.
Japan has also approved a $338 million chip research project where TSMC will develop new chip technology in the country.
The Arizona plant will produce wafers built on the company’s 5nm process. Previous reports said that TSMC is planning to expand the site with a further five fabs.
Funded with revenue bonds and generous tax breaks, the first 12-inch wafer fab is expected to start volume production in 2024, with a planned output of 20,000 wafers a month. TSMC as a whole produces around 2.7 million wafers a month, but is investing heavily to expand production.
In Japan, the company will split the costs of a $337 million project with the Japanese government. TSMC will work with more than 20 Japanese companies to develop chipmaking technologies in Japan.
Research will primarily focus on 3D chip assembly, for denser semiconductors.
Work on a trial facility will begin this summer at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in the city of Tsukuba, about 60km northeast of Tokyo, with a launch date expected in 2022.
Source: datacenterdynamics.com
Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Peellden
