TapTechNews May 27 - Henri Richard, the head of Rapidus' US subsidiary, Rapidus Design Solutions, said recently that Rapidus' first-generation process will not use High-NA EUV lithography machines.
According to foreign media Anandtech, Richard said that Rapidus is currently very satisfied with the 0.33-NA (Low-NA) EUV lithography solution used in its 2-nanometer node.
Among the four advanced process foundry companies (TSMC, Samsung Electronics, Intel, and Rapidus), only Intel has clearly stated its plan to use High-NA EUV lithography machines for mass production.
Zhang Xiaoqiang, co-COO of TSMC, recently said that he doesn't like the price of ASML's High-NA EUV lithography machine; and researcher Kang Young-seog of Samsung Electronics has previously expressed a similar view.
In addition to the 2-nanometer process that is planned to be trial-produced in 2025 and mass-produced in 2027, Rapidus has already planned for the next stage of 1.4 nanometers inside.
Richard also said that this emerging Japanese foundry may consider adopting a different solution (referring to High-NA EUV lithography) at 1.4 nanometers.
Richard said that he learned from potential customers and EDA companies that the entire advanced semiconductor industry is seeking an independent foundry company as an alternative supplier other than TSMC.
Unlike Samsung Electronics and Intel, which also have their own chip businesses, Rapidus is a pure foundry company. This unique identity will make it more popular with partners.
Richard estimated that the market for the most advanced semiconductors at 2 nanometers and below will reach 150 billion US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 1.09 trillion RMB), and under such a scale, Rapidus' success does not require too much market share.