US To Target Changxin Memory In Next Chip Curb

Latest stories

Rise of the far right is a 4th dimension phenomenon

There's a history to Moscow-Pyongyang collaboration

Ukraine summit fails to provide coherent path to peace

It said CXMT has partnered with chip packaging and testing company Tongfu Microelectronics to develop sample HBM chips and has showcased them to clients. In February, XMC began constructing a factory that can make 3,000 12-inch HBM wafers per month.

Currently, five Chinese chip makers, including Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) and YMTC, have been added to the US Entity List.

In March this year, Bloomberg reported that Washington is considering blacklisting CXMT and five other Chinese chip makers.

GAAFET technology

Last December, CXMT caught the attention of BIS after it claimed to have made advances in its development of GAA chip technology.

At the 69th IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in San Francisco, CXMT presented a paper to showcase a GAA technology applicable to cutting-edge 3nm chips.

An article published by the South China Morning Post said the design of CXMT's GAA chips may involve technology subject to US export restrictions. But CXMT said the research has nothing to do with the company's current production processes. It added that any accusation that CXMT is violating US export controls is completely inaccurate.

In the past, semiconductors consisted of planar transistors (MOSFETs), which face current-leakage and heat-dissipation problems below the 28nm process node.

In 2011, Intel introduced fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs), which have a vertical“fin” added to each of their gates, to resolve the current leakage issue. But the problem occurs again when chips are getting smaller and smaller.

This is why the GAAFET technology, which turns the“fin” into nanowire or nanosheet, was developed . The technology can help improve semiconductors' performance and reduce their power consumption. It can also be applied to 5nm, 7nm and 14nm chips.

FinFET was introduced by Intel in 2011 but it will be replaced by GAAFET in next generation chips. Photo: techlevated

In June 2022, Samsung started the mass production of its GAA-based 3nm chips. The BIS announced in August 2022 a new law to ban the export of American electronic design automation (EDA) software, which can be used to design GAA chips, to China. It's unclear how CXMT underwent its GAA research.

Potential curb

The Biden administration is mulling new restrictions on China's access to GAA technology, Bloomberg reported on June 11.

“When it comes to AI, the US says it wants to have dialogue with China, while mulling steps to go after China's AI sector,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on June 12.“This says everything about US hypocrisy.”

Lin added that the US action will not hold back China's technological progress but instead will motivate Chinese companies to pursue excellence by relying on themselves.