Russia is trying to reduce its technological gap with the West, but is focusing on 2000s technologies
1 July 2024 17:26
The Russian government has set an ambitious goal for the country: to launch mass production of 65 nm chips by 2028. This task has been entrusted to Mikron, a Zelenograd-based company that is part of the Element group of companies. It was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" reports with reference to Russian media.
Mikron currently produces semiconductors with a 180-90 nm topology. These technologies make it possible to produce chips for transport cards, Internet of Things equipment, and a limited range of general-purpose processors.
In 2011, Mikron entered into an agreement with the French-Italian component manufacturer STmicroelectronics to launch production of 65 nm chips, but the cooperation was suspended in 2014 due to sanctions imposed for the annexation of Crimea.
Processors with the 65 nm topology were invented in 2005, and their mass production by the world’s leading microelectronics manufacturers, such as Intel, AMD, and IBM, began in 2006-2007. Today, global semiconductor fabs have already mastered 2nm technology, such as Taiwan’s TSMC.
The Russians hope that their own production of 65 nm processors will allow them to fully meet the needs of the domestic market for microcontrollers. However, these processors will still be insufficient for sophisticated equipment such as servers, tablets and smartphones.
Currently, most of these chips are imported from China, and Russian components will be more expensive if mass-produced. However, thanks to government subsidies and import substitution requirements, there will be demand for them, Russian experts are confident.
The main problem for Mikron will be the purchase and delivery of equipment for lithography (printing processors). Currently, chips with 65 nm topology are printed on 300 mm silicon wafers, which are not produced in Russia. These wafers will either have to be produced by the Russians themselves, which they are not yet able to do, or purchased abroad, which is not easy to do due to sanctions. In addition, mass production of 65 nm chips requires a lot of skilled personnel, which is also in short supply.
