There are companies that specialize in studying semiconductor chips made with recent manufacturing processes. They write reports with the results of their inve

There are companies that specialize in studying semiconductor chips made with recent manufacturing processes. They write reports with the results of their investigations, which are sold at hefty prices. So the competitors in this domain certainly know exactly what metals are used. This does not mean that these facts are published anywhere in the open literature. In general, trade secrets about what is in a product have rarely any value against well-funded competitors. They may work only to prevent the appearance of new entrants in the market. The secrecy maintained by many companies about how their products really work is very annoying, because it hurts only their customers, never their competitors. The only trade secrets that are enforceable are those about how something is made, not about what it is or what it contains.