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The biggest Fab factory company in the world is Dutch [0]. TSMC, Intel and friends are customers of theirs and use _their_ equipment and IP. So the Intellectua
by arianvanp 6y ago
The biggest Fab factory company in the world is Dutch [0]. TSMC, Intel and friends are customers of theirs and use _their_ equipment and IP.
So the Intellectual property seems to be there? It's just that we don't have any actual factories in EU.
TSMC seems wholly dependent on Europe here.
[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASML_Holding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASML_Holding
- mrweasel 6y agoWow, but does that mean that TSMCs 7nm technology is really ASMLs 7nm technology, or how does that work?
- wmf 6y agoNo, developing a semiconductor manufacturing process requires far more than the equipment.
- mrweasel 6y agoI don’t know how to make a semiconductor, but does that mean that Intel couldn’t make a 7nm even if you gave them access to TSMCs fab, because they don’t know how to design a 7nm chip?
- deepnotderp 6y agoAssuming no knowledge of the process, Yup! Although it's maybe complicated by the fact that Intel has active development on 7nm, so they might be able to pick up hints from an existing 7nm line.
- pkaye 6y agoThere are a large number of companies that make the equipment for the fabs. For example, Applied Materials and LAM Research in the Bay Area also make a a wide variety of machines. ASML makes mainly the lithography equipment which turns out to be quite expensive. Its like each vendor provides some of the equipment in the kitchen and TSMC is the chef. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_equipment_sales_leaders_by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_equipment_sales_...