Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is set to unveil Reference Flow 10.0 for the 28nm process at the upcoming Design Automation Conference (DAC) in July 2009, according to industry sources. The world's top contract chipmaker is expected to deliver its 28nm process as a full node technology on schedule.
TSMC in September 2008 said its 28nm node, which will offer the option of high-k metal gate (HKMG) and silicon oxynitride (SiON) materials, will enter volume production in the first quarter of 2010. The pure-play foundry has successfully ramped in 40nm, supported by its latest production-proven design infrastructure Reference Flow 9.0.
The sources estimate that 40nm will account for 8-10% of TSMC's total revenues by the end of 2009, and the proportion is likely to reach 15-20% in the second quarter of 2010. TSMC's major customers at 40nm include handset chipmakers, GPU vendors and FPGA chip suppliers.
Nvidia reportedly has completed the tape-out of its next-generation (GT300) GPU on TSMC's 40nm, and is also looking to adopt the foundry partner's 28nm technology.
