TSMC N2 vs Intel 18A vs Samsung SF2 Wiki

Published by Daniel Nenni on 07-12-2025 at 7:02 pm
Last updated on 07-12-2025 at 7:02 pm

Category TSMC N2 Intel 18A Samsung 2nm (SF2)
Target Mass Production 2H 2025 (risk production late 2024) H2 2024 (internal); early 2025 for IFS customers Late 2025 – risk production
Transistor Type GAA nanosheet (TSMC’s implementation) RibbonFET (Intel’s GAA design) MBCFET™ (Multi-Bridge Channel FET)
Backside Power Delivery Yes — via Backside via (not full backside PDN) Yes — PowerVia, true backside power, full-scale Partially implemented, full backside may arrive in SF1.4
Performance Uplift ~10–15% vs N3E >10% vs Intel 20A ~12–15% vs SF3
Density Improvement ~15% over N3E (depends on design rules) Significant; specific numbers undisclosed Claimed 20% vs SF3
SRAM Scaling Minimal SRAM area scaling; focus on logic scaling New SRAM cell design for better area & power efficiency Improved but still limited compared to logic scaling
Design Rules / Complexity Conservative shrink with careful design rules Aggressive shrink with tooling complexity (PowerVia+GAA) Aggressive scaling, requires close foundry collaboration
Yield Maturity In ramp-up, proven ramp experience (N3E base) Unclear — early adopters are internal to Intel Still in development, likely slower ramp than TSMC

🔬 Lithography and Tooling

Category TSMC N2 Intel 18A Samsung SF2
EUV Usage Extensive EUV, including 2nd-gen Extensive, with High-NA in R&D Extensive EUV
High-NA EUV In development (targeted for N2P) Early R&D; HVM in post-18A nodes No High-NA in SF2; future roadmap
Scanner Vendor ASML NXE:3600D ASML NXE:3600D + EXE systems ASML NXE:3600D

🧱 Packaging + Integration

Category TSMC N2 Intel 18A Samsung SF2
Advanced Packaging CoWoS, InFO, SoIC, System-on-Wafer EMIB, Foveros, Omni-Bridge I-Cube, X-Cube
Chiplet Strategy Strong (AMD, Apple, etc.) Core part of IDM 2.0 and IFS Emerging; used for Exynos, others
Foundry Ecosystem Industry-leading Rapidly growing with IFS push Improving but still weaker than TSMC

🧑‍💻 Design Ecosystem

Category TSMC N2 Intel 18A Samsung SF2
EDA & PDK Maturity Highly mature Catching up quickly Requires closer co-design with Samsung
IP Ecosystem Broad and deep Still growing Improving, but limited vs. TSMC
Lead Customers Apple (flagship N2 user), AMD Intel (Meteor Lake/Arrow Lake), IFS Qualcomm, Google (rumored), Tesla AI

🏁 Strategic Positioning

Category TSMC N2 Intel 18A Samsung SF2
Business Model Pure-play foundry IDM + Foundry (IFS) IDM + Foundry
Target Markets HPC, mobile, AI HPC, AI, military/aerospace, foundry Mobile, automotive, AI
Supply Chain & Localization Expanding in Arizona and Japan U.S.-based + planned Germany expansion Korea-centric, U.S. (Taylor, TX fab)
Differentiators Reliability, yield, ecosystem Backside power delivery, advanced packaging Early GAA leadership, vertical integration
Challenges Yield maturity, Apple dependency Execution history, customer trust rebuild Packaging competitiveness, EDA/IP ecosystem

🧠 Summary

  • TSMC N2 is the most conservative and customer-proven roadmap with strong Apple partnership and robust chiplet/packaging offerings. Focus is on reliability and yield.

  • Intel 18A is technically aggressive, combining RibbonFET + PowerVia, and targeting leadership in performance/watt. Foundry customer wins and IFS maturity are key.

  • Samsung SF2 brings early GAA experience and solid EUV toolchain but needs to scale its ecosystem and yields to challenge TSMC in premium mobile and AI workloads.

ChatGPT Image Jul 12, 2025, 07 00 08 PM

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