Huawei plans to make 3nm chips, but when?

Huawei Technologies, a Shenzhen-based telecommunication equipment maker, is reportedly planning to make 3 nanometer chips with deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines despite low yields and high costs.

An article published by Tom’s Hardware, an American technology website, reported Tuesday that Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) together plan to produce 3nm chips by using patented self-aligned quadruple patterning (SAQP) lithography methods. The article said that 7nm-class process technology features 36 to 38nm metal pitches while 5nm-class nodes have metal pitches of 30 to 32nm. It said metal pitches for 3nm chips will be about 21 to 24nm.

Metal pitch is the metric to measure the minimum distance between two horizontal interconnects. In 2019, Intel tried to produce a 10nm chip, which had metal pitches of 36nm. But the project failed due to low yields.

The Tom’s Hardware article said the cost of 5nm or 3nm chip production will be high, making it not feasible for commercial devices. It said the chips can be used in supercomputers or military equipment.

The article was widely cited by Taiwanese media on Wednesday.

In March this year, media reports said Naura Technology Group, a Shenzhen-listed firm, started researching SAQP. They said SiCarrier, a Shenzhen-based state-owned-enterprise that works with Huawei, in late 2023 had been granted a patent that involves SAQP.

SiCarrier filed patents for the SAQP technology in September 2021 when Naura was also involved in this project.

The SAQP technique is called a brute-force method as it involves pitch-splitting, or the division of a pattern into two or three parts. The SAQP can be achieved by applying self-aligned double patterning (SADP)