Taiwan's semiconductor giant, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC), will kick off its pilot 90-nanometer production process by the end of this year, reports reaching in Hong Kong from Taipei said Tuesday.

The TSMC chief technology officer Chenming Hu was quoted as saying that TSMC will be the first company to adopt the 90-nanometer production process in volume production.

The company announced the basic modules for a 90-nanometer complementary metal-oxide semiconductor logic process in April 2001. The 90-nanometer process is expected to deliver substantial improvements in speed, power usage, integration and density over the 0.13-micro technology, according to Hu.

The advancement of the production process from 0.13-micro technology to 90-nanometer technology will enable the production of cost-effective devices of higher performance and greater complexity, he added.

The 90-nanometer technology is expected to especially benefit manufacturers of convergence products, such as mobile multimedia devices and digital consumer products that combine applications such as DVD, set-top box and personal video recorders.

( March 20, 2002)