According to ITNA and citing Interesting Engineering, Chinese researchers have developed an initial process for fabricating next-generation transistors at sub-3-nanometer scales using deep ultraviolet lithography.
This work, reported based on statements by Ye Tianchun, a veteran Chinese semiconductor researcher, comes as U.S. and Dutch export restrictions continue to limit China’s access to ASML’s most advanced lithography systems.
It is noted that the Chinese Academy of Sciences has announced its researchers have completed initial integration of GAA transistors with stacked nanosheet channels using deep ultraviolet tools, but this technology is still in an early development stage and has not shown it can support commercial-scale production.
The research focuses on GAA transistors; an architecture that is replacing FinFET designs as semiconductor makers move toward smaller process nodes.
The research team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has integrated GAA transistors with stacked nanosheet channels using deep ultraviolet lithography.
Ye Tianchun, a senior researcher at the Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, describes this work as an early process route for developing sub-3-nanometer devices. But this does not mean China has demonstrated a production-ready sub-3-nanometer chip.
According to experts, this research was conducted while China has limited access to extreme ultraviolet lithography.
ASML’s extreme ultraviolet machines use 13.5-nanometer light to create extremely small patterns on silicon wafers and are among the most complex industrial machines ever built.