The ongoing trade war between the US and China has resulted in China being locked out of several key pieces of advanced technology. This includes semiconductors, where Chinese firms cannot access equipment made by ASML, which is necessary to produce more advanced chips. However, China has been finding ways around it, and a top US chip scientist believes Huawei can achieve 1.4nm chip in the future.
US scientist thinks Huawei can reach 1.4nm chip
Right now, traditional chip making requires the use of EUV machines, which are made exclusively by ASML. Due to the trade war, the US and its allies have cut China off from this technology. But according to Andrew B. Kahng, a US chip scientist, he believes Huawei can achieve the coveted 1.4nm chip without needing EUV machines.
But how? According to Kahng, it might be possible through the use of Tau (τ) Law. This was introduced by Huawei’s chip design lead, He Tingo, back in May.
For those unfamiliar, the current chip making process involves shrinking transistors. The more transistors that can fit onto a chip, the more powerful and efficient it is. However, Tau Law is going a different route. Instead of geometric scaling, which is what is being used now, Tau Law involves temporal scaling. This means that instead of making transistors smaller, how about you reduce the time it takes for signals to move through elements in a circuit.
This means that in theory, companies like Huawei can continue making chips the way it does now, but with transistors whose signals move just as fast as it would on a 1.4nm chip.
When will it arrive?
The good news is that Huawei’s methodology isn’t just theoretical. The company claims to have mass produced 381 chips based on this principle. Huawei says that they spent six years refining the methodology, so now it’s a matter of applying it. However, it could be a while before we see it hit the market.
Based on estimates, Huawei could launch a chip with performance comparable to a 1.4nm chip by 2031. That’s still 5 years away. By then, the semiconductor world would have probably moved onto even smaller processes. Huawei might still be a step or two behind, we don’t think that’s the point.
The point is that Huawei could show the world that it might not need machines or tech made by the US or its allies to compete.
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