TSMC claims 90 nanometer breakthrough

NO SOONER DO WE write that TSMC is still having problems with its 130 nanometer (.13 micron) technology, than we get a press release from the Taiwanese foundry saying it's produced its first 90 nanometer (.09 micron) devices.

Sheesh. Spooky or what.

The firm claims it has made the first functional four megabit SRAM devices in the cosmos, over a year ahead of its already proclaimed plans.

The devices, claims TSMC, include a 65 nanometer gate length and a 6T SRAM cell that measures less than 1.3 square microns.

It includes interconnect that uses damascene copper and low k dialectrics, and the firm said it will enter pilot production of the process by the fourth quartet of this year.

It will build the devices on 12-inch (300mm) wafers.

And here's a presumably ironic statement from Dr FC Tseng, the deputy CEO of TSMC: "Since we introduced our 0.13-micron process in 2000, TSMC has surged ahead of the ITRS roadmap for new process development. With this achievement, we maintain our position ahead of that roadmap".

We wonder if Transmeta, Broadcom, Via and some others are in deepest harmony with this sentiment? µ See Also
TSMC problems cause Via 1GHz CPU delay