Taiwanese authorities have allowed TSMC to continue construction of Advanced Backend Fab 7 Phase 1 after an archaeological discovery earlier this summer led to the suspension of construction. After resolving issues related to site excavation and environmental impact assessment (EIA), archaeological excavations, authorities have allowed TSMC to continue construction of both AP7 Phase 1 and AP7 Phase 2, reports United Daily News. However, there are questions about how TSMC will proceed.
In slow May, during construction of the AP7 Phase 1 Advanced Packaging Plant at Chiayi Science Park, potential relics were discovered, prompting a momentary halt to construction under the Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Taiwanese authorities allowed TSMC to begin construction of AP7 Phase 2, which TSMC did. After a review by the Chiayi County Cultural Heritage Committee, the site was approved for excavation and conservation. TSMC hired an archaeological firm to conduct excavation while construction of the plant continued. To speed up the excavation, the archaeological firm hired by TSMC is recruiting 60 workers.
A key part of today’s announcement is that TSMC is continuing to build both AP7 Phase 1 and AP7 Phase 2. The gigantic question is whether the company will equip both phases at the same time, but if it continues on this plan, in a few years it will have greater capabilities in advanced packaging methods such as Integrated Thermal Management (InFO) and Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS), which is good news for the industry as TSMC struggles to meet packaging demand.
TSMC’s Advanced Backend Fab 7 will cost TSMC several billion dollars and will feature support for advanced backend packaging technologies such as InFO CoWoS. TSMC’s CoWoS-S is used in AMD’s Instinct MI250 processors, as well as Nvidia’s A100 and H100/H200 processors, while CoWoS-L is expected to be used in the B100/B200 and other next-generation processors for AI and HPC applications. In the future, AP7 is also expected to support TSMC’s SoIC (System on Integrated Chips) packaging methods, including 3D front-end stacking techniques such as chip-on-wafer (CoW) and wafer-on-wafer (WoW), allowing the foundry to assemble vertically stacked products, similar to AMD’s Instinct MI300.
The archaeological site is of significant historical value, dating back between 3,500 and 4,500 years, associated with the historic Corded Ware culture. Excavations have uncovered various artifacts, including pottery fragments, ceramic rings, and remains of ash pits and shell mounds. These discoveries constitute the cultural and historical significance of the area.
All excavated artifacts will be stored locally, with TSMC providing momentary storage. Further processing of the artifacts will be handled by the Department of Anthropology, National Taiwan University, and the Administration of Southern Taiwan Science Park. After the project is completed, the artifacts will be transferred to the Chiayi County Cultural Affairs Bureau for preservation.
