The world's smallest chip — TSMC breaks the 2 nanometer barrier

Taiwanese company TSMC has unveiled the most advanced microchip to date, measuring just 2 nanometers. Mass production is expected to start in the second half of this year. According to TSMC representatives, the new product will be a significant step forward in terms of performance and energy efficiency, which could potentially change the technological landscape.

This was reported by The Conversation.

Why such a chip is a breakthrough

Microchips are the backbone of modern electronic devices, from electric toothbrushes and smartphones to laptops and household appliances. They are made by the deposition and etching of materials (most commonly silicon) in layers, creating miniature circuits with billions of transistors. All of these transistors act as microscopic "switches" that control the flow of electricity, allowing computers to perform calculations.

The microchip industry is constantly striving to increase the number of transistors on as small a footprint as possible. This makes devices faster, more powerful, and more economical at the same time.

Compared to the previous 3-nm technology, the new 2-nm chips provide a 10-15% increase in computing speed with the same power or 20-30% energy savings with the same performance. In addition, the transistor density has increased by about 15%, enabling devices to run faster, consume less power, and perform complex tasks more efficiently.

TSMC manufactures state-of-the-art microchips for a variety of companies, including Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm. They are used in smartphones, tablets, laptops, supercomputers, as well as in machine learning and artificial intelligence projects.

The transition to 2-nm chips promises a significant improvement in performance and energy efficiency in smartphones, laptops, data centers, and artificial intelligence. This means that we will see devices with better performance, longer battery life, and smaller size.

Однак виготовлення чипів настільки крихітного розміру потребує найсучасніших методів литографії, що значно збільшує вартість виробництва та висуває жорсткі вимоги до точності. Крім цього, тепло, яке виділяється на такому рівні мініатюризації, стає складніше розсіювати. Також звичний кремній може досягати своїх технологічних меж, змушуючи виробників шукати альтернативні матеріали.

As a reminder, Nvidia has announced a new line of personal supercomputers with artificial intelligence. They are based on the Grace Blackwell chip platform, and two models are currently available.

We also wrote that Apple released the super-powerful M3 Ultra chip. It received many performance improvements, as well as the largest amount of unified memory in PC history.