TSMC reveals 1.4nm lithography and expects mass production as early as 2028

TSMC has announced today, April 23, its next most advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology, the A14 process for 1.4nm lithography. The company promises significant increases in performance, efficiency and, of course, density of transistors in relation to its N2 process of 2NM.

“A14 is our next generation full-generation technology,” said Kevin Zhang, TSMC executive. “If you look at speed, the improvement is up to 15%, the energy reduction is 30%, the logical density is 1.23 more time in general, or at least 1.2 time. So this is a very, very substantial technology.”

The new technology is based on second-generation Gate-All-Around (GAA), and TSMC expects to start producing 1.4nm lithography chips as early as 2028. In this first phase, however, components will not have Power Delivery (BPD), a feature that should be implemented on the products made the following year in 2029.

“Technology also features our Nanoflex Pro, a co-optimization for technology design (DTCO) that allows the designer to create their products quite flexibly, allowing them to achieve great benefits of energy performance,” added Zhang. “This technology will go into production in 2028. This version does not have Backside Power Rail.”

TSMC prepares A16 and N2P for the coming years

While TSMC is good to promote its future processes, it is worth remembering that in the coming years we will still have the beginning of N2P and A16 (1.6nm) volume production. These two technologies are based on the current N2 and can take advantage of their infrastructure. The A14, in the meantime, is completely new, requiring new IPs, optimizations, EDA software, etc.

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The largest semiconductor manufacturer in the world has not offered a more specific window for A14 production. Tom’s hardware, however, recalls that the company is preparing to produce A16 and N2P in the second half of 2026, which should deliver the first components in early 2027. Thus, it would be possible to predict A14 production starting in the first half of the following year.