As the race for technological dominance in the semiconductor world intensifies, Intel’s Fab 52 facility in Arizona surpasses its closest competitor, TSMC, in terms of production volume and technological equipment in the same region.
Intel Makes Headlines with its US Factory
Fab 52, which stands out as the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing center on US soil, houses Intel’s 18A, or 1.8 nanometer class, process technology. When fully operational, the facility is designed to produce 10,000 wafers per week and approximately 40,000 wafers per month.
These figures alone represent a production capacity equivalent to the total capacity of the first two phases of TSMC’s Fab 21 facility in Arizona. Intel’s massive investment utilizes groundbreaking industry technologies such as RibbonFET transistors based on Gate-All-Around (GAA) architecture and PowerVia, a rear-power distribution network.
In terms of technological infrastructure, Intel is equipped with the latest generation lithography systems manufactured by ASML. Fab 52 currently houses four low-aperture (Low-NA) EUV machines.
The most notable of these is the NXE:3800E model, which has a processing capacity of 220 plates per hour and borrows components from the next-generation high-aperture (High-NA) machines. Additionally, three NXE:3600D systems, each capable of processing 160 plates per hour, are actively used at the facility.
The facility, which is expected to house a total of 15 EUV scanners, is focused on the production of Intel’s “Panther Lake” processors. While TSMC prefers a safe start with the more established 4 and 5 nanometer technologies in Arizona, Intel gains a strategic advantage by implementing the riskiest and most advanced 1.8 nanometer nodes directly on US soil.
