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LSU Unveils Energy-Efficient Science Hub
BATON ROUGE – LSU's new Our Lady of the Lake Health Interdisciplinary Science Building brings five science departments together under one roof for the first
Ukraine says even outdated drone tech can work for allies
A Ukrainian official says drone tech that is aging out of his country's fast-moving fight could still help partners preparing for similar attacks.
For Iran’s Athletes, There Is No Separating Sports From Politics
From defections and protests to moments of national pride, the 2026 World Cup arrives amid decades of tension between identity and the state.
Jefferson School and Black Business Expo join forces to celebrate and uplift Black community members - C-VILLE Weekly
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and Charlottesville Albemarle Black Business Expo combine forces on June 20 for their third annual joint event. The all-day gathering is the culmination of months of preparation and years of history. Before coming to the Jefferson School, Charlottesville’s Juneteenth Celebration was held at Piedmont Virginia Community College and […]
Newsom sees Trump DOJ investigation as a political gift
An investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) could have put California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on defense. Instead, it is giving Newsom, seen as a leading Democratic White House contender…
Five New Sport Programs Approved by Murray State University Board of Regents
After a thorough analysis of future departmental growth and campus enrollment strategies, Murray State Athletics is proud to announce that it will be expandi...
NC Senate eyes involuntary commitment bill targeting mental health, crime
A Senate committee is expected to review a House-approved proposal to shift some mental evaluations out of emergency departments and expand the number of people who can conduct them.
French Quarter businesses face storm and flood project disruptions
Businesses on Decatur Street in the French Quarter are preparing for heavy rainfall from Invest 90L while dealing with challenges from a flood control project.
U.S. Sues N.Y. State Over Troubled $11 Billion Home Health Care Program
The Justice Department accused officials of failing to police a vendor it said had siphoned off millions of dollars. A spokeswoman for Gov. Kathy Hochul called the suit an attempt to weaponize the justice system.
An EPA Researcher Details the Agency's Assault on Science
In late January, the Trump administration began shutting down projects within the EPA’s independent science division that touched on climate change and environmental justice. Air quality researcher Thomas Luben, who had worked at the agency for 18 years, was fired for objecting.
Simone Johnson Talks WWE Departure, Whether She'd Ever Return To Entertainment
Simone Johnson, formerly known as "WWE NXT" General Manager Ava, spoke about her departure from the company, and if she'd ever return to entertainment.
Trump DOJ sues NY health officials, alleging ‘backroom deal’ in home care overhaul
The Justice Department alleges the state officials improperly awarded a contract to provide home health services.
Justice Department sues New York state DOH over CDPAP transition
The DOJ argues that the state DOH conducted a "sham bid process" and failed to take action to hold Public Partnerships LLC accountable.
Panel to discuss sports and business across North Texas
The Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks announced plans to leave American Airlines Center, their home for more than two decades, to build separate venues.
Merchants of Doubt and the attacks on Extreme Event Attribution science
Last week, I attended a meeting at Columbia University on attribution science and climate law, hosted by the Sabin Center. It was a fantastic event, bringing together scientists and legal experts working at the intersection of extreme event attribution and climate law. Subscribe For those unfamiliar with it, extreme event attribution attempts to quantify the contribution of climate change to an extreme event. For example, several groups analyzed the impact of climate change on Hurricane Harvey’s enormous rainfall totals over Houston, Texas and they found that climate change increased rainfall by 15 to 38%. One thing that came up again and again was how terrified fossil-fuel interests are of extreme event attribution science. They are acutely aware that this research could land them in court. And losing those cases would leave them legally liable for billions of dollars in climate damages. Because the legal stakes are so high, the blowback has turned ugly. I spoke with several scientists at the meeting who are facing ongoing harassment over their work. This blowback is a coordinated campaign to make the entire field look suspect. The goal is to create the impression that attribution science is too uncertain, too political, or too conflicted to be useful in court or in public policy. The strategy is not based on actual science or evidence of misconduct, but on the generation of doubt. The new Merchants of Doubt We’ve seen this before. In fact, not that long ago: We only have to go back a year to the Department of Energy (DOE) Climate Working Group (CWG) report to see an example of using doubt as the tool to push back against well-established science. This strategy is laid out in an email from a member of the CWG, Dr. Roy Spencer, that was released during litigation over the Climate Working Group process. The key quote is: About all I can hope is that what we write will provide sufficient “reasonable scientific doubt” regarding the science claims in the 2009 TSD [technical support document], based upon almost 2 decades of new science, to call into question the original reasoning for the EPA Administrator’s decision that CO2 presents a threat to human health and welfare. This statement is strong evidence that at least some members of the committee were working to support a particular policy outcome: revoking the Endangerment Finding. The email also explains how they planned to do it: by attempting to generate “reasonable doubt”. This is going to be hard, Spencer implies. Despite falsely claiming that “2 decades of new science” weakens the case, Spencer explicitly acknowledges that the actual peer-reviewed science of climate change overwhelmingly rejects his position: But if the science argument is decided upon by a vote, or by the number of published citations, we lose the science argument. We can go back even further: This CWG email shares unmistakable DNA with the infamous 1969 tobacco memo that declared: “Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy.” The tobacco memo also acknowledges the limit of this strategy: Like the CWG, they knew the science was not on their side. Share The new new Merchants of Doubt The people attacking the IPCC chapter on extreme event attribution are the newest iteration of the Merchants of Doubt. Their goal, like all Merchants before them, is to introduce doubt into the process. Because the report is not even out yet, they cannot attack its conclusions. So they are attacking the authors instead. Here is a press release from the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee: In the letter, the Chairmen express concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving members of the Attribution Committee, stating that “publicly available information suggests a troubling pattern” in which committee members are affiliated with nonprofits that support climate accountability lawsuits, “raising the appearance of impropriety and member bias.” To be clear, this is just innuendo. There is no actual evidence of bias. And given the robust process that these reports go through, including multiple lines of peer review, it seems very unlikely that significant bias can survive into the report. When the report comes out, critics will have the opportunity to make legitimate criticisms of the report — if any exist. If none do, however, they’ll still make criticisms, but they’ll be bogus, simply designed to generate doubt. We’ll see. A note to the press: Fix your frame To any journalists reading this: The public debate over extreme event attribution science is not going away. The science is simply too dangerous to fossil-fuel interests for them to stop fighting it. You very well might be assigned to write an article about this area of research in the future. When you do, do not automatically adopt the framing that climate misinformers want you to use. They want you to frame the story around questions like: Are climate scientists trying to put their thumb on the scale to achieve a predetermined, politically motivated result? Are climate scientists improperly letting their politics invade the science of the IPCC? That frame is a trap. Instead, you need to view this through the historical lens of the Merchants of Doubt. How does the ecosystem of doubt operate? Who funds it? What methods do they use to misrepresent science and slime researchers? What scientific results are they trying to keep people from understanding are legitimate? Ultimately, you instead need to focus your article on the generation of doubt as a way to maintain the fossil fuel industry’s social and legal license to keep burning oil, gas, and coal. If you treat the misinformers’ frame as a legitimate, good-faith scientific critique, you are helping them produce doubt. Don’t do it. Don’t be a Merchant of Doubt. Thanks for reading The Climate Brink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Subscribe other stuff The Staying Curious Substack has an interesting post about the different flavors of climate sensitivity. This is crucial information if you want to understand how scientists think about how much warming the Earth will experience. I’d be grateful if you could hit the like button ❤️ below! It helps more people discover these ideas and lets me know what’s connecting with readers.
RFK Jr. orders passenger from hantavirus-stricken cruise to remain in quarantine in Nebraska, despite CDC recommendation
A woman who was exposed to hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise has been ordered by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stay in federal quarantine, despite being cleared to return home to Florida by a federal health expert.
Yinming Shao named Downsbrough Early Career Professor of Physics
Yinming Shao, assistant professor of physics at Penn State, has been honored with the Downsbrough Early Career Professorship in Physics in recognition of his research contributions, teaching, and service to the Department of Physics and the Eberly College of Science.
Northeastern appoints Mark Williams as dean of College of Science
Mark Williams, professor and chair of the Department of Physics, will assume the position of dean for the College of Science July 1, according to a June 11 email to the college’s faculty, staff and students. Williams, who joined Northeastern in 2001, will enter the role following physics professor and Senior Associate Dean for Academic...
Todd Blanche is no sure thing in looming AG nomination battle
Past scandals and a history of personal service to Trump are complicating the president’s pick to lead the Justice Department
Trump moves oversight of special education, civil rights out of Education Dept.
The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education
Trump moves oversight of special education, civil rights out of Education Dept.
The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education
Trump Administration Shifts Special Education Programs to Health Department
Officials announced that the Education Department’s civil rights office would also be broken off, the most aggressive move yet to dismantle the department.
Maricopa County Reports its First West Nile Death of the Season
Maricopa County Department of Public Health has confirmed the first West Nile virus-related death of the season. The individual was an older adult with underlying health conditions."This case is a tra
Dragon Undocks to Return Science Experiments to Earth
At 12:25 p.m. EDT, the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon spacecraft undocked from the forward‑facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module after a command from SpaceX ground controllers. Flight controllers delayed the undocking slightly to power‑cycle a navigation sensor and restore full redundancy before departure.
What a New DOJ Memo Means for Small Business Hiring Practices
A recent U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) legal opinion could significantly affect how federal discrimination law is applied to small businesses.
U of A food science students advance to IFTSA College Bowl, a national trivia competition in Chicago
University of Arkansas students are putting local food science talent on the map, recently winning a high-stakes regional trivia showdown and advancing to the national stage next month, a press rel…
Preparing Leaders for the Business of Sports
Cedarville University is expanding access to its sport business management program through a new online degree that prepares students for leadership roles in a...
Preparing Leaders for the Business of Sports
Cedarville University is expanding access to its sport business management program through a new online degree that prepares students for leadership roles in a...
How Wisconsin Is Reducing Administrative Burden on Local Health Departments
Learn how Wisconsin is streamlining processes to improve the administrative experience for local health departments.
49th Annual Grantsville Days: Three days of fun, entertainment, community spirit
GRANTSVILLE — Grantsville is preparing to come alive as the 49th Annual Grantsville Days returns June 26–28, bringing three days of family-friendly entertainment, community activities, live music, food, and fun
Fund honoring late meteorologist to assist in global student experience
Jenni Evans, a world-renowned meteorologist whose research transformed the scientific understanding of tropical cyclones and strengthened storm forecasting worldwide, considered her students’ success her proudest accomplishment. The newly established Jenni Evans Fund in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science will ensure that those successes continue in perpetuity.
Michigan health department issues warning about recalled squeeze toys
The health department said people should properly dispose of the items because the sand inside might contain asbestos.
Judge who had sex in courthouse and attended political event agrees to exit Georgia election case
A federal judge who was disciplined after an investigation found that she had sex with a police officer in her chambers and attended a partisan event, then lied when confronted with the allegations, has recused herself in a fight over Georgia election records after the U.S. Department of Justice raised questions about her ability to be impartial.
Judge who had sex in courthouse and attended political event agrees to exit Georgia election case
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge who was disciplined after an investigation found that she had sex with a police officer in her chambers and attended a partisan event, then lied when confronted with the allegations, has recused herself in a fight over Georgia election records after the U.S. Departm...
Judge who had sex in courthouse and attended political event agrees to exit Georgia election case
A federal judge has recused herself in a fight over Georgia election records after the U.S. Department of Justice raised questions about her ability to be impartial
Department of Health and Human Services Digital Stockpile & Manufacturing Response Network Challenge
NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) assists in the use of crowdsourcing across the federal government. CoECI’s NASA Tournament
Judge orders historical signs to be reinstalled
In response, an Interior Department spokesperson told Spectrum News that the decision was issued by “a Biden appointed judge.”
Vance shares how he's gearing up for lion's den debut on 'The View'
JD Vance tells Fox News Digital he hopes "The View" hosts meet him halfway as he prepares to discuss his new book and the Iran peace agreement.
Adaptive plots splitting Pfizer-partnered drug discovery unit from diagnostics business
Adaptive Biotechnologies is planning to separate its drug discovery and diagnostics businesses,
Sen. Raphael Warnock tells Jon Stewart he's not in love with politics, can separate it from faith
1 Central Florida food truck shut down last week after health inspections
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation shut down a food truck in Volusia County for health code violations during the week from June 7-13.
This Portland PAC said it got $270,000 from an organization that only had $7,000 to spend
The PAC misidentified the source of nine separate donations over eight months before media questioned the discrepancy.
Steam Machine reviews may be underway as two new Geekbench listings surface
Valve's Steam Machine was once again spotted on Geekbench with two separate listings, suggesting that reviews may be underway.
Three Lehigh University materials science students awarded 2026 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
Three students from Lehigh University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering have received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, one of the nation's most competitive honors for emerging STEM researchers. Their success highlights the impact of a course designed to strengthen scientific communication, proposal writing, and fellowship preparation.
Game-Changing New, Online Master’s in Sport Management and Recreation Therapy
Sport management is a growing industry, and UNC Greensboro is preparing the next generation of leaders to meet the demand. The new fully online Master of Science in Sport Management & Recreational Therapy is designed for working professionals ready to advance their careers in sport, athletics, and recreation. With flexible coursework, real-world experiences, and strong industry connections, students can gain the skills they need to lead without putting their careers on hold.
For Iran’s Athletes, There Is No Separating Sport From Politics
From defections and protests to moments of national pride, the 2026 World Cup arrives amid decades of tension between identity and the state.
Aphelion and Life is Strange developer Don't Nod in trouble as it struggles to secure funding for its next project
Don't Nod is in trouble yet again, as the company prepares to address a shortage of cash in its reserves.
The Wealth Opportunity Hidden In America's Small Business Transition
Millions of small business owners are preparing to exit. Discover why acquisition entrepreneurship is creating a new generation of business buyers.
Congress must reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act
America’s next health emergency won’t wait for Washington, write W. Craig Vanderwagen and Jennifer B. Alton.
UToledo Earns National Recognition for Preparing Future Teachers in Science of Reading
Undergraduate and graduate early childhood education degree programs achieved top marks in a new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality.
Video of Patriots rookie Gabe Jacas training surfaces amid controversy
With Gabe Jacas' contract status still in question, the rookie second-round pick is preparing away from the team for the 2026 season.
Informa Markets and Thailand's Health Ministry Join Forces To Deliver a Successful Edition of International Healthcare Week 2026 in Bangkok
Informa Markets joins forces with Thailand's Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) to unveil International Healthcare Week 2026, a transformative regional healthcare platform that will elevate Thailand's position as a world-leading medical and wellness hub and catalyze new waves of investment, innovation, and international partnerships across the healthcare industry.
Pirate Problems: What Quarterback Will Buccaneers see Against Vikings?
As Minnesota navigates a brutal opening stretch, Tampa Bay prepares for a dual threat: veteran Kyler Murray’s resurgence or the raw potential of former first-rounder J.J. McCarthy.
With 2 New Sports, Special Olympics To Get Underway
For the first time in years, thousands of athletes with disabilities are preparing to come together from across the country for a week of competition and much of it will be broadcast.
Spurs' Dylan Harper keeping 'positive attitude' after NBA Finals loss
Dylan Harper has separated himself as one of the best young guards in the league following his NBA Finals performance.
Indiana attorney general targets abortion pill mifepristone as water risk. Health experts dispute the claim
Indiana’s Attorney General joined 13 other states to call for the EPA to classify the abortion inducing drug mifepristone as a water contaminant, arguing it could pose a health risk. Health experts say there’s no evidence for his claims.
Beer sales surge in Boston after first home World Cup match
Pubs and liquor stores are reporting busier-than-normal weekends. Scottish visitors drank a lot of beer, and businesses are preparing for the week ahead.
Jaguars roster: Jakobi Meyers ready for full season in Jacksonville
Jakobi Meyers quickly became a key contributor in Jacksonville. Now he'll enter training camp preparing for his first full season with the Jaguars.
President announces July Fourth festivities to include 'Trump rally'
In a separate post, the president touted the Freedom 250 Great American State Fair, a 16-day expo slated to kick off June 24 and run through July 10
Epstein survivors push Comer to investigate potential leads from DOJ’s files in private meeting
In a private meeting last week, a group of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and family members of the late Virginia Giuffre pointed House Oversight Chair James Comer to allegations from the Justice Department’s Epstein files to further investigate, arguing that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s suggestion there were no more leads to pursue in the case is not true.
Lancaster County measles outbreak garners national attention; 4 new cases in the past week
With measles cases in Lancaster County continuing to rise and the state tracking possible public exposures at the courthouse and a local department store, the outbreak here is attracting national
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says Trump's Justice Department is investigating him and his wife
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and longtime political rival of Republican President Donald Trump, said Monday the president ordered the Justice Department to investigate him and his wife.
NASA Flights Map Tropical Ecosystems, Water, Ice
Data from a NASA campaign in Panama and Peru will help communities prepare for tropical floods in cloud-covered areas, improve scientific understanding of
Newsom says he's on Trump's 'hit list' as Justice Department interviews governor's friends
Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Trump administration appears to be investigating him and his wife. The Democrat said agents interviewed his friends and associates.
Treyarch studio head Mark Gordon to depart
Treyarch studio head Mark Gordon will step down after 22 years at the company to “focus on his next chapter,” the studio announced.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says Trump's Justice Department is investigating him and his wife
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the Justice Department is investigating him and his wife, accusing the Trump administration of targeting him for political purposes as he weighs a presidential bid
Gavin Newsom says Trump Justice Department is investigating him
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the Department of Justice is investigating him, claiming that President Donald Trump is targeting a “political enemy” despite no evidence the Democratic potential 2028 presidential contender has committed a crime.
PAHO Executive Committee opens 178th session with focus on key health priorities and financing challenges in the Americas
Washington, D.C., 15 June 2026 (PAHO) — The Executive Committee of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) today opened its 178th session, where Member States will address the Region’s main health priorities in a context marked by financing challenges and the need to strengthen preparedness for health emergencies.
IBX team wins first place at Google Code for the Cure Hackathon with AI prototype to make prior authorization clearer and fairer
A team of associates from Independence Blue Cross’s (IBX) Advanced Analytics and Data Science department won first place at a recent Google Code for the Cure Hackathon in New York City. The event, run by Google Cloud, brings together teams to build real-world AI solutions to health care challenges. In just four hours, the IBX team designed and built a fully functional prototype that shows how AI can make prior authorization decisions clearer, more consistent, and fair for patients and providers.
NWA Women in Business: Amanda Tolley-Holloway
Residence: Bentonville Education: B.S.B.A., business management, 2004, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas Professional background: In her existing role, Tolley-Holloway works in Tyson Foods’ Prepared Foods business,...
Xbox turmoil continues with a studio closure and executive departures
More big changes under Asha Sharma’s leadership.
South Carolina DPH marks Men’s Mental Health Week, urging exercise and screenings
For Men's Mental Health Week (June 15-21), the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) is encouraging men to get active
CMS, HHS request information for potential modifications to ACA Essential Health Benefits
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Department of Health and Human Services issued a request for information (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/15/2026-11994/request-for-information-comprehensive-review-of-the-essential-health-benefits-framework-and-typical) June 12 seeking input on CMS’ review of the Affordable Care Act’s Essential Health Benefits framework and the requirement that the scope of EHBs is equal to the scope of benefits provided under a standard employer plan.
Xbox Game Studios boss Craig Duncan and Chief of Staff Louise O'Connor step down
Leadership figures with long history at Rare depart the business amid plans for business "reset"
Xbox Game Studios boss Craig Duncan steps down
The head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan has stepped down after more than 18 months in the role. Duncan replaced former Studios boss Alan Hartman in November 2024, and oversaw Halo Studios, The Coalition, Flight Sim, Turn 10, Playground Games, Rare, Obsidian, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, The Initiative, Double Fine, InXile, Undead Labs, World’s Edge and XGS Publishing. He departs the organization this week. His studios will report to Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty until a replacement is found. Duncan has been part of the Xbox organization since 2011 and is best known for running highly regarded UK developer Rare for nearly 14 years. He oversaw the developer’s Kinect and Sea of Thieves eras. Prior to that, he held various senior roles at Codemasters, Midway and Sumo Digital, and worked cross titles such as Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, Wheelman and Colin McRae. He's also VP of the charity SpecialEffect. Subscribe Meanwhile, Xbox Game Studios chief of staff Louise O’Connor will also be leaving the company. O’Connor joined Rare in 1999 beginning as an animator on cult favourite N64 game Conker’s Bad Fur Day. She’s worked in numerous art and production roles at the UK studio, and even won an AIAS award for voicing the character Leafos in Viva Piñata. She left Rare following the cancellation of Everwild in 2025, before becoming chief of staff in September that year. In an email to staff, Duncan wrote: “When I stepped into the role of leading XGS 20 months ago, my purpose was to serve our studios, our teams, and the people making our games. Together, we set out to deliver high-quality games, strengthen the cultural fabric across our studios, and help shape the future of the business. I’m proud to say we delivered many flawless launches that drove business success for the company.” On O’Connor, he added: “Louise has been a thoughtful, creative, and trusted partner who has consistently championed the craft and supported our studios with clarity and care. I’m grateful for everything she’s brought to XGS, and I’m sure she’ll be successful in whatever comes next for her.”
Xbox Game Studios boss Craig Duncan steps down
The head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan has stepped down after more than 18 months in the role. Duncan replaced former Studios boss Alan Hartman in November 2024, and oversaw Halo Studios, The Coalition, Flight Sim, Turn 10, Playground Games, Rare, Obsidian, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, The Initiative, Double Fine, InXile, Undead Labs, World’s Edge and XGS Publishing. He departs the organization this week. His studios will report to Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty until a replacement is found. Duncan has been part of the Xbox organization since 2011 and is best known for running highly regarded UK developer Rare for nearly 14 years. He oversaw the developer’s Kinect and Sea of Thieves eras. Prior to that, he held various senior roles at Codemasters, Midway and Sumo Digital, and worked cross titles such as Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, Wheelman and Colin McRae. He's also VP of the charity SpecialEffect. Subscribe Meanwhile, Xbox Game Studios chief of staff Louise O’Connor will also be leaving the company. O’Connor joined Rare in 1999 beginning as an animator on cult favourite N64 game Conker’s Bad Fur Day. She’s worked in numerous art and production roles at the UK studio, and even won an AIAS award for voicing the character Leafos in Viva Piñata. She left Rare following the cancellation of Everwild in 2025, before becoming chief of staff in September that year. In an email to staff, Duncan wrote: “When I stepped into the role of leading XGS 20 months ago, my purpose was to serve our studios, our teams, and the people making our games. Together, we set out to deliver high-quality games, strengthen the cultural fabric across our studios, and help shape the future of the business. I’m proud to say we delivered many flawless launches that drove business success for the company.” On O’Connor, he added: “Louise has been a thoughtful, creative, and trusted partner who has consistently championed the craft and supported our studios with clarity and care. I’m grateful for everything she’s brought to XGS, and I’m sure she’ll be successful in whatever comes next for her.”
Edward Jones Expands Workplace Retirement Solutions for Business Owners and Their Employees
With new products, investments and product partners, Edward Jones is helping business owners support employees while preparing for their own financial futures....
2-Alarm Fire Breaks Out At Restaurant In Milford, Fire Officials Say
The business will be temporarily closed until repairs and cleaning are complete.
Ebola risk for World Cup is ‘extremely low’, but US is ready, experts say
US hospitals and agencies have enhanced preparedness for Ebola, but some experts warn of public health system strains.
Here Are Monday’s Best Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Accenture, Caesars Entertainment, Datadog, Dupont, Epam Systems, Ferrari, Paychex, Rocket Lab, TeraWulf, and More
Pre-Market Stock Futures: Futures are exploding higher on news of a peace deal with Iran expected to be signed this Friday. This follows a historic Friday that saw the coming-out party of Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX), widely known as Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The record-breaking size of the offering, raising $75 billion, the company’s debut ... Here Are Monday’s Best Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Accenture, Caesars Entertainment, Datadog, Dupont, Epam Systems, Ferrari, Paychex, Rocket Lab, TeraWulf, and More
Here Are Monday’s Best Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Accenture, Caesars Entertainment, Datadog, Dupont, Epam Systems, Ferrari, Paychex, Rocket Lab, TeraWulf, and More
Pre-Market Stock Futures: Futures are exploding higher on news of a peace deal with Iran expected to be signed this Friday. This follows a historic Friday that saw the coming-out party of Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX), widely known as Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The record-breaking size of the offering, raising $75 billion, the company’s debut ... Here Are Monday’s Best Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Accenture, Caesars Entertainment, Datadog, Dupont, Epam Systems, Ferrari, Paychex,
Pasadena Hosts National Astronomy Conference as Scientists Prepare for NASA’s Next Flagship Space Telescope
Daily Newsmagazine and City Guide to Pasadena, California featuring local news, breaking news, events, weather, sports news, schools news, shopping, restaurants and more from Pasadena Now
UK in Effort to Improve Construction Workers’ Mental Health Amid Out-of-Work Crisis
The UK’s business department is spearheading a new effort to improve mental health in the construction industry, as the government tries to tackle a labor market crisis that’s been worsened by Britain’s high numbers of people out of work due to mental illness.
Georgia health officials offer car seat safety classes, free seats for eligible families
Georgia Department of Public Health officials are encouraging parents and caregivers to take advantage of car seat safety classes offered through local health departments.
Is SMIC N+3’s Metal Pitch Smaller than Intel 18A’s?
Almost four years ago, we published that SMIC had started shipping 7 nm (N+1) chips. Now, SMIC is shipping its third-generation 7 nm (N+3) process in Huawei’s Kirin 9030, with a minimum metal pitch of 32.5 nm, about 10% tighter than the 36 nm minimum metal pitch shipping in Intel’s latest Panther Lake CPUs on 18A. The headline is true, but incomplete cherry picked metric. N+3 reaches the density of TSMC N6 through aggressive DUV multi-patterning and design-technology co-optimization (DTCO), but it pays for that in complexity, efficiency and process control. We found this and more in our reverse engineering and teardown where we cover SMIC’s N3 process technology, Huawei’s packaging, memory, architecture, and more. SemiAnalysis has been building a state-of-the-art teardown lab in Oregon capable of analyzing the world’s most advanced and important chips over the last year and half. We have already generated revenue on advanced datacenter chip teardowns including our recent reverse engineering of a major TSMC customer’s COUPE CPO optical engine + EIC 3D stack. This is the first public report from the SemiAnalysis Teardown Engineering & Evaluation Lab, or STEEL for short. The lab is aggressively scaling up and out and we’re excited to announce it publicly. This is a bit of inconvenient timing for TechInsights as they are private equity owned and currently being sold while having enjoyed virtually no credible competition for decades. This has led to TechInsights underinvesting in CAPEX. SemiAnalysis exceeds TechInsights in revenue despite no venture or private equity ownership and being founded only 6 years ago. Because we have no external investors and are founder led, we move faster, build faster, and we can release client chip teardowns for free regularly, while focusing on datacenter for our major clients. Here’s the first public image from our lab, the HiSilicon Kirin 9030 Pro SoC: This report will detail our teardown of the Kirin 9030 and our findings on SMIC’s N+3 process, the most advanced in China. For comparison, we’ll show our teardown of the MediaTek Helio G99, made on TSMC N6. Through this comparison, we can look at the effect of export controls – SMIC N+3 and TSMC N6 are comparable nodes, but one is heavily export-controlled, the other free to use the West’s most advanced equipment. Here we see both China’s progress and constraints. SMIC N+3 reaches TSMC N6-class logic density, but it requires far more aggressive DUV multi-patterning, so it does not match N6 on process maturity or cost. The Kirin 9030 Pro performs similarly to three-year-old Android flagships, and trails far behind the current flagship SoCs from Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Samsung. The efficiency gap is even wider. Export controls have not stopped Huawei and SMIC from shipping advanced silicon, but they have forced a different path. Without EUV, SMIC is leaning harder on DUV multi-patterning, DTCO, and increasingly complex integration. The roadmap continues forward through tighter design rules and backside power, but each step adds cost and process risk. Huawei’s τ scaling and LogicFolding show another path: stacking active logic and recovering density through advanced packaging and system-technology co-optimization (STCO). To understand the Kirin 9030, we must first understand Huawei’s SoC history. HiSilicon is Huawei’s chip design arm, responsible for the Kirin smartphone SoCs, Kunpeng server CPUs, Ascend AI accelerators, and switch/router networking silicon. Before export controls, Huawei was TSMC’s largest customer – the only customer on TSMC’s first EUV node, N7+, and among the first on N5, alongside Apple. That ended in late 2020. Huawei switched to Qualcomm SoCs in its flagship smartphones, though export controls limited them to 4G-only variants. In late 2023, Huawei returned to in-house silicon with the Kirin 9000s, a successor to the Kirin 9000, fabricated on SMIC N+2 instead of TSMC N5. In the following years, they released the Kirin 9010 and 9020 on the same N+2 process. These chips used Huawei’s in-house TaiShan CPU cores and Maleoon GPU. We have not torn down a Kirin 9020 ourselves, so the predecessor die shot is from Kurnal. The die shots show how Huawei spent its silicon budget: which functional blocks are where, and how their areas compare to the predecessor. First, a quick guide to the major blocks on the die. The total die area is nearly identical, but the 9030 uses that area more aggressively. A denser process lets Huawei fit an extra middle CPU core, more GPU and NPU cores, and larger caches into the same footprint. In contrast, the Helio G99 is a much smaller, low-cost SoC, built for budget smartphones rather than a flagship device. While the Kirin 9030 is ~140 mm², the G99 is only ~29 mm², roughly one-fifth the area. The underlying TSMC process technology, however, is directly comparable as a baseline for analyzing SMIC’s. The Kirin 9030 is an evolutionary refresh, not a clean-sheet design. Its CPU, GPU and NPU cores carry over the 9020’s families, and the gains come from three levers: the SMIC N+2-to-N+3 process step, DTCO and floorplan work, and incremental microarchitecture. Area is where the first two show up, and the 9030 scales well here. Performance and efficiency are the harder test. Huawei’s design holds up better than its node would suggest, but the chip still trails, both because N+3 sits behind the leading-edge nodes and because its cores, while competent, remain a few generations behind the newest designs. The new prime core is an incremental update. The main changes are a 10% frequency increase from 2.5 GHz to 2.75 GHz and a doubling in the L2 cache from 1 MiB to 2 MiB. Despite the increased cache, the core size decreased by 7.6%. Excluding the private L2 cache, the core size decreased by 21%. This is a large reduction for an incremental node. Compared with the TaiShan New V120 core in the Kirin 9020, the Kirin 9030’s middle core is almost unchanged architecturally, yet each core shrinks by ~22%. Most of that comes from the move from N+2 to N+3, with layout likely accounting for the rest. Visually, the most noticeable change is the increase from 3 middle cores to 4. There is also a 20% increase in the shared L3 cache of the big cluster. This helps to improve multi-core performance without sacrificing much in terms of area. Even with each core shrinking, the big CPU cluster’s total area is essentially unchanged. The per-core savings went back into an additional middle core and larger caches. The tiny cores shrank less than the prime core (excluding its L2 cache) and less than the middle cores. This is likely because fixed overhead is a larger share on a small core. We cannot resolve any architectural changes from the die shot alone, but the per-clock and efficiency gains shown below point to more than pure process and layout scaling. The area reduction was offset by a doubling of the shared L2 cache from 2 MiB to 4 MiB, leaving the total tiny CPU cluster area slightly larger. Area is the easiest improvement to see from a die shot, but it is only one part of PPA (power, performance, area). For modern logic, power and performance matter just as much, and often more. Since Dennard scaling broke down in the mid-2000s, voltage and frequency have not scaled in step with transistor dimensions, so each node has had to fight harder for gains in performance and efficiency. The starkest comparison is not Kirin 9020 versus Kirin 9030 Pro. Apple’s efficiency cores run circles around Huawei’s prime core. Apple’s low-power core delivers 20% higher integer performance while drawing only 1 W, compared with 4.5 W for Huawei’s prime core. N+3 matches TSMC N6, but N6 is several generations old. Apple and Qualcomm build on N4 and N3P, which are denser and sit on a better voltage-frequency curve, giving them a larger transistor budget and more performance per watt. The 9030’s own cores did improve. The middle and tiny cores gained 17% and 14% in per-clock integer performance over the 9020, with floating-point flat on the middle core and up 11% on the tiny. The tiny core improves cleanly, with performance rising while power falls and efficiency increases by 45% in integer and 24% in floating point. The middle core is mixed: integer performance rises but power rises faster, cutting integer efficiency by 7%, while lower power lifts floating-point efficiency 16%. Per-clock gains at the same or lower frequency are microarchitectural, so the cores are tuned, not just shrunk. Both also failed to hold their rated maximum frequencies, pointing to thermal, power, or stability limits. Per clock, the middle core sits around Arm Cortex-A720 and the tiny core near the Cortex-A520; absolute performance trails because Huawei clocks them much lower. The prime core is roughly Cortex-X2 class per clock, a 2021 design. Apple’s 2020 M1 Firestorm core is still 35% higher per clock and 57% faster in absolute integer performance at a similar 4.5 W. The current leading edge is further ahead again: the Apple M5 P-core is 60% higher per clock and 2.7× faster, the Arm C1 Ultra 45% higher and 2× faster. Matching older high-end cores per clock is a genuine design achievement. What Huawei cannot match is the voltage-frequency curve and transistor budget of leading-edge nodes, which let Apple, Qualcomm and others spend more transistors in the same area on wider cores, larger caches and deeper buffers while running at lower voltage. Huawei’s LogicFolding roadmap is one answer, stacking active logic to recover density and shorten signal paths. We return to it later. The GPU compute units (CUs) changed more visibly than the CPU cores, moving to a more rectangular layout for both the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) clusters and the CU overall. Even with ray-tracing support added, a CU shrank ~28%. However, that shrink is offset by the increase from 4 to 6 CUs and the area outside the CUs grew 33%. Overall, the GPU cluster is larger by ~10%. The GPU is where Huawei makes its biggest gains. The Maleoon 935 is not competitive with current flagships, but it is a large step up from the 920 and reaches older-flagship territory. In 3DMark it is 70% faster in Wild Life Extreme (WLE) and 79% faster in Steel Nomad Light (SNL) than the 920; with 11% higher clocks and 50% more CUs, the ~67% theoretical uplift roughly matches WLE and is beaten by SNL. It edges ahead of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in WLE and SNL, and the Dimensity 9200 and Apple A16 in WLE, but stays far behind newer parts: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Dimensity 9500 are ~2.4–2.6× faster in WLE and ~3.2× faster in SNL. The Maleoon 935 is Huawei’s first GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing; there it lands slightly ahead of the Exynos 2200, and on par with the Apple A16, with current flagships up to 3.7× faster. The Neural Processing Unit (NPU) saw the largest structural changes of any block, moving from a Lite and a Tiny core in the Kirin 9020 to a Lite and two Tiny cores in the Kirin 9030. Both core types also show significant layout changes. This is a reversal in Huawei’s NPU design. The Kirin 9000 5G, its last flagship chip on TSMC N5, used two Lite and one Tiny core. The series of SoCs on SMIC N+2 moved to one Lite and one Tiny core, likely for area savings. With the Kirin 9030, Huawei has shifted back toward a larger multi-core NPU cluster, but with the additional area going to a Tiny core rather than a Lite core. We’re diving deep into the most advanced datacenter and AI hardware hitting the market. To learn more about what’s in the pipeline or to commission a custom teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. Interested in joining us on this ride and think you can be a difference maker? Check out our Careers page. Before diving into the process stack, the package and memory are worth separating from the SoC itself. The Pro variant of the Kirin 9030 carries 12 GB of Samsung DRAM, with two stacks of four dies each. The dies were identified as the K4L2E165YD, a 12 Gb LPDDR5X-9600 device fabricated on Samsung’s 1a node, the fourth generation of its 10 nm-class DRAM after 1x, 1y and 1z. 1a has shipped in volume since 2022, so this is current memory rather than older-node inventory. The 16 GB Pro Max variants we obtained were found with both CXMT and Samsung packages. The CXMT package is marked CXDD7JEDM, with two stacks of four dies, packaged in week 45 of 2025. The inferred die dimensions from X-ray computed tomography (CT) are consistent with a known density of ~0.3 Gib/mm² for the CXMT G4 process, roughly equivalent to other manufacturers’ 1z processes. The Kirin 9030 uses a typical integrated package-on-package (iPoP) stack: multiple DRAM dies in a memory package sit above an organic redistribution layer (RDL) interposer, which sits above the SoC and package substrate. The full package is then mounted to the printed circuit board (PCB) through ball-grid array (BGA) solder bumps. The memory package substrate is a thin bismaleimide-triazine (BT) laminate carrying the LPDDR5X stack. The organic RDL interposer over the SoC routes the PoP signals around the die and carries possible dummy thermal copper pillars. The package substrate, a thicker Ajinomoto Build-up Film (ABF) build-up over a BT core, fans the flip-chip bumps out to BGA pitch and embeds the power planes. The whole stack is organic. The only silicon is the SoC and the LPDDR5X dies; there is no silicon interposer. Keeping it all-organic brings the package’s coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) close to the PCB’s, reducing board-level warpage, and avoids the cost of a silicon interposer the SoC’s bandwidth does not need. In an iPoP stack, the memory package connects to the organic RDL interposer through an array of solder bumps. Underfill fills the gap around those bumps, adding stiffness and protecting the joints from mechanical stress. The Pro and Pro Max variants differ here, which we cover behind the paywall. The die shot and architecture tell us how Huawei allocated its silicon budget. The process tells us what SMIC can manufacture. We use the Helio G99 as the process reference for TSMC N6. Both SMIC N+3 and TSMC N6 are evolutions of previous 7 nm-class nodes. We used targeted TEM cross-sections through logic and memory regions, imaged in both fin-cut and gate-cut directions. Each cross-section caption gives its horizontal field width (HFW), the real width of the imaged area. We start at the transistor fins, then move up through standard cells, local interconnect, and SRAM. SMIC has not overtaken Intel or TSMC. It uses aggressive DUV scaling and DTCO to reach N6-class density, but that density doesn’t translate into comparable performance and efficiency, for two reasons: the node gap to leading-edge nodes, and Huawei’s core designs. Fin Profile One of the most important knobs in a FinFET process is the fin profile: the shape of an individual fin and the channel where current passes from source to drain. The ideal fin is tall, narrow, and nearly vertical. A taller fin increases effective channel width, while a narrower fin improves electrostatic control by thinning the body the gate must control. Push either too far, and the process pays for it: weaker drive current, fragile fins, taper, footing and line-edge variation that hit yield and device variability. The Intel 22 nm, 14 nm, and 10 nm fin cross-sections show how FinFET nodes have improved over time. 22 nm fins were a first-generation structure, relatively short, wide and strongly tapered. The shape limits current density and reduces gate control uniformity across the height of the fin. At 14 nm and 10 nm, Intel pushed the fins taller and narrower while also making the sidewalls more vertical. Rather than shrinking the device, these changes increase the effective channel width per fin and improve electrostatic control. The trade-off is that taller fins at tighter pitches are much more difficult to manufacture. Now, let’s compare the Helio G99 on TSMC N6 with the Kirin 9030 on SMIC N+3. Both processes are in the same class, with fin pitch of 30-32 nm on N+3 and 34 nm in our N6 cross-section. The pitch for N6 is especially interesting as N7’s HD library is generally listed with a 33 nm fin pitch, and N6 did not shrink pitches directly. Its density gains came from DTCO instead of tighter pitches. The 34 nm pitch was stable across our sampled region and serves more as a comparison against the SMIC N+3 we have not investigated further. Pinning down N+3’s fin patterning scheme takes more than one core unit. The CPU cores show a dense ~32 nm pitch, with the pitch between N-P fin pairs alternating between 78 and 88 nm. Logic alone may be consistent with dual-pitch mandrels of 120 and 110 nm, but this is a complex and unusual approach. Combining the pitch from the the 8T SRAM, which has more complex repeat unit, with the CPU core sequence allows us to reverse engineer the patterning steps with more confidence. As both the logic and SRAM should share the same base grid, a single CD mandrel lithography pattern with 128 nm pitch undergoing SAQP produces a die-wide ~32 nm grid (128 nm/4), which supports the pitch sequencing seen in both logic and SRAM cells. In the sampled cross-sections, N+3 shows a taller, narrower, higher-aspect-ratio fin than N6. The measured fin aspect ratio is ~9.5:1 on N+3 versus 7.8:1 on N6. N+3 also shows less top rounding, with an estimated radius of ~2 nm, compared with 2.8 nm on N6. Even though the fin widths differ, the ratio of top rounding to fin width tells the same story, with N+3 at 0.37 and N6 at 0.44. In a geometric sense, lower is better; a perfectly rectangular fin would have no top-rounding penalty. These are single-digit-nanometer features measured from a handful of cuts, so treat the absolute numbers as approximate. The important result is the relative gap: N+3’s fins are consistently taller, narrower and less rounded than N6’s. We’re diving deep into the most advanced datacenter and AI hardware hitting the market. To learn more about what’s in the pipeline or to commission a custom teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. Interested in joining us on this ride and think you can be a difference maker? Check out our Careers page. Standard Cell A standard cell is the basic building block of chip layout: a fixed-height row pairing one NMOS and one PMOS transistor that share a gate, tiled in a grid to build logic blocks. The key dimensions are contacted gate pitch (CGP), cell height (CH), fin count, and the lower-metal routing grid. To measure density, we use the Bohr metric: a weighted average of NAND2 gate area (60%) and scan flip-flop area (40%). This represents a realistic mix of combinational and sequential logic. This metric has its limitations, especially for complex cell layouts like TSMC’s FinFLEX, which alternates cells with different fin counts. Even so, it is the best metric for a pure process-level comparison. Another important measurement is the fin pitch; it refers to the distance between two fins of the same transistor. In a FinFET process, multiple fins are used in each transistor to increase the drive current and thus performance. TSMC N6 ships both a high-density (HD) library with 2 PMOS and 2 NMOS fins per cell, and a high-performance (HP) library with 3 of each. More fins under the shared gate mean more effective channel width. HP cells switch harder at the cost of area. Designers mix the two on a die, primarily spending HP cells on timing-critical paths, and matching their PPA targets. In the Cortex-A55 core of the Helio G99, we found a cell height of 240 nm for the HD cell. MediaTek has used HD cells in the G99 to minimize die size and thus cost. As an SoC for budget smartphones at ~$100, this is essential. By contrast, we found only one library in the Kirin 9030, with 2 NMOS and 2 PMOS fins. This suggests a narrower library strategy than TSMC N6, where both HD and HP libraries are widely used. This likely reflects the smaller customer base and the more constrained domestic design and electronic design automation (EDA) ecosystem. In all three CPU cores of the Kirin 9030, we found cell heights of 228 nm, 5% smaller than on N6. This is also a reduction of 9.5% over SMIC N+2’s cell height of 252 nm. SMIC N+3 and TSMC N6’s HD library both feature a CGP of 57 nm. For SMIC, this is a 9.5% shrink over N+2. In the past, CGP and cell height alone may have been enough to compare transistor density. Now, however, we must consider scaling boosters and DTCO as well. SMIC’s density gain does not come from EUV. It comes from using every available DTCO booster aggressively. First is fin depopulation: reducing the number of NMOS and PMOS fins in each cell. The first FinFET nodes started with 3 or 4 fins for each transistor. SMIC N+3 and TSMC N6 HD both use only 2 fins per transistor, trading drive strength for density. Next is contact over active gate (COAG). By landing the gate contact directly over the active gate, instead of out over the isolation region, the cell height drops. N+3 integrates COAG while N6 does not. Our N+3 gate-cut cross-sections indicate COAG, with the gate contact sitting over the active region, while N6 shows an off-gate contact. Last is single diffusion break (SDB). Diffusion breaks are inserted between cells in the same row to provide electrical isolation, but they also introduce local layout effects (LLE), layout-dependent shifts in electrical characteristics. In the past, a double diffusion break was used, consuming the space of two CGPs. SMIC N+3 and TSMC N6 instead use SDB, saving area but increasing LLE sensitivity. This must be controlled at the process level and accurately modeled in the process design kit (PDK) so that EDA tools can account for it. Overall, SMIC N+3 has a transistor density of 113.4 MTr/mm², slightly above TSMC N6 at 107.7 MTr/mm². Even without EUV, SMIC has achieved density beyond TSMC’s mature N6 node which utilizes EUV. Metal Stack The smallest critical dimension in the teardown is M0; SMIC N+3 uses a 32.5 nm local metal pitch. That is smaller than the 36 nm M0 pitch on Intel 18A in Panther Lake. However, this does not mean that SMIC has a better process than Intel 18A or TSMC N3P. M0 is a local intra-cell routing layer. Its usefulness depends on the full interconnect stack: M1 and M2 pitch, track count, via and line resistance, design rules, mask count, overlay control, and routing flexibility. The 32.5 nm M0 is consistent with self-aligned quadruple patterning (SAQP), whose four-population line-width loading we read coarsely as alternating widths of 21.5 to 24 nm; M1 and M2, at 38 and 40 nm, are consistent with self-aligned double patterning (SADP), a single A/B split. On TSMC N6, M0, M2, and M3 sit at a relaxed ~40 nm and are consistent with SADP-class double patterning, with no need for quadruple patterning. That said, we measure M2 for example at ~43 nm, likely inflated by sparse routing. We do not assign any specific layer to EUV from our cross-sections; the distinction we can draw is double versus quadruple patterning, not lithography wavelength. Transistor-level density in the front-end-of-line (FEOL) sets an upper bound, but the design is ultimately limited by what the interconnect stack can route. The lowest metals are the most important for standard-cell density, but the semi-global and global layers determine how usable that density is at the block and chip level. Two axes are commonly used for chip cross-sections: the fin-cut and the gate-cut. The micrograph above is a fin-cut and shows metals 0 through 3. This axis lets us see the even-numbered metals, with M0 right above the fins. There are two kinds of M0 lines. The first are the power rails; these are wide wires for the VDD and VSS running horizontally at the top and bottom edges of each standard cell. The wide wires measure 55 nm across, more than double the other M0 lines. Their width minimizes resistance and reduces IR drop. The second kind are intra-cell wires, short segments within the cell that connect terminals to M1. These have alternating widths between 21.5 and 24 nm. The M0 pitch is 32.5 nm, a 19% reduction versus N+2 and N6. At this pitch, DUV patterning requires more aggressive multi-patterning, increasing mask count, overlay sensitivity, process complexity and cost. M0 is below what a single DUV-defined spacer (SADP) can resolve, so SMIC cascades a second spacer step (SAQP). The cross-section reflects the cost: the M0 trenches are visibly more re-entrant (narrower at the bottom than the top) than M1 or M2 on the same chip and carry a bright barrier-rich foot where the trench meets the etch-stop layer. That shape is partly the intended damascene profile, as a slightly narrow bottom helps void-free copper fill, but its magnitude at M0 is driven by the tight pitch and the higher trench aspect ratio. Intel 18A supports an M0 pitch of 32 nm, although Panther Lake has only shipped with a looser 36 nm pitch. This is due to Intel’s heavy usage of HP libraries. Among leading-edge nodes, 18A has the loosest M0 pitches due to PowerVia. With power routing moving to the backside, congestion is reduced, and the entire front-side metal stack can be used for signal routing. M2 is the first true inter-cell routing layer. It runs horizontally like M0 but spans across multiple cells to carry block-level signals. The M2 pitch sets the cell’s track height – the number of M2 tracks that fit between the VDD and VSS rails, defining what the library calls a 6-track or 7.5-track cell. This layer is the most important, limiting the routing of entire blocks. SMIC N+3 features a 5.7-track cell. The M2 pitch is 40 nm, a 5% decrease over N+2 and the same as N6. This shrink keeps the pitch at the edge of what is possible with double patterning. Future nodes will need to increase the number of masks for M2 as reducing the number of tracks is much harder due to the limitations in routing. The micrograph above is in the perpendicular direction, the gate-cut, and shows metals 0 through 4. This allows us to see and measure the odd-numbered vertical metal layers. The M1 pitch is 38 nm, 9.5% less than N+2 and 33% less than N6. The M1-to-gate ratio matters because it sets local routing flexibility. N+2 and N+3 use a 3:2 ratio, while N6 uses a 1:1 ratio, explaining the huge differences in M1 pitch. The more M1 lines there are compared with the gates, the more flexibility there is for power and signal crossing within the cell. Routing flexibility enables more complex and better cells. Clean fractional ratios are also preferred as a grid is periodic and improves layouts. The 3:2 ratio gives SMIC more local routing flexibility than a strict 1:1 grid, but it also complicates layout and patterning. This is a DTCO choice, with SMIC increasing process complexity to recover density and routability without EUV. This 3:2 ratio is not very popular in the leading-edge nodes. TSMC has only used it on N7+, the N5 family, and the short-lived N3(B). They have switched back to a 1:1 ratio for N3E. Intel has only used it on the 10 nm/Intel 7 family, with Intel 4, 3 and 18A all using a 1:1 ratio. Samsung is the only one still using a 3:2 ratio at the leading edge, using it in the SF4 and SF3 families. It remains to be seen if SMIC will remain at a 3:2 ratio or move to a 1:1 ratio with its future nodes. The industry is still actively exploring these local-routing ratios. At VLSI 2026, imec will be presenting work on even higher ratios, including a 2:1 scheme that can reduce area by up to 14%. We will be covering the conference in a future newsletter article. Subscribe We’re diving deep into the most advanced datacenter and AI hardware hitting the market. To learn more about what’s in the pipeline or to commission a custom teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. Interested in joining us on this ride and think you can be a difference maker? Check out our Careers page. The final local interconnect layer for N+3 is M3, with a pitch of 44 nm. The M3 pitch is the same as on N+2 and 10% larger than on N6. The semi-global layers carry the majority of block-level signal routing. They have a coarser pitch than the lower local layers. On leading-edge nodes, they are designed to sit at the limit of DUV single patterning. M4 through M11 pitches were found divided between 80–82 nm (M4–M6), 128 nm (M7–M10), and 148 nm (M11). Given limited sampling, it is possible these are divided further in dense routing areas. At the top are two giant metal layers, M12 and M13. These have kept the same pitches as N+2 at 1920 nm and 4600 nm respectively. While the lower layers’ pitches are generally fixed by the process and library, the upper layers vary much more in pitch and count, depending on the design. Even two smartphone SoCs on the same process can have wildly different metal stacks. The Helio G99 carries fewer routing layers, reaching coarse metal pitches of 850 nm by M9, while the larger and higher-performance Kirin 9030 keeps fine pitches until M11. SRAM At the leading edge, SRAM is much more difficult to scale than logic. TSMC’s latest nodes have seen little to no bitcell scaling, while logic still has more DTCO levers to pull. While looking for other logic libraries in the GPU compute units, we stumbled upon the SRAM. The most common type of SRAM has 6 transistors (6T), but this cell had 8 transistors (8T) instead. 8T SRAM adds two transistors to form a dedicated read port. Unlike a 6T cell, where reading disturbs the storage, the decoupled read port removes read-disturb, improving read stability and letting the cell be pushed harder for performance. At first glance, the cut looked like an unusual logic library, with each cell row having 3 fins of one polarity and 5 fins of another. The rows also alternated in orientation. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) resolved our confusion. The cut had not landed on the GPU logic, but on the SRAM macro beside it. The unusual fin pattern was due to the SRAM library. We return to EDS in the process flow analysis behind the paywall. SRAM libraries are not like traditional logic libraries. Due to the unequal number of PMOS and NMOS transistors, they require specialized rules and layout libraries. They do not need the flexibility of logic libraries, so they are hyper-optimized for one purpose: dense, reliable memory. The SRAM cell we found is a 1:2:2-2:2 cell. This means there is 1 fin per pull-up (PU) PMOS transistor, and 2 fins per pull-down (PD) and pass-gate (PG) NMOS transistor. These 2 PU, 2 PD and 2 PG transistors would usually form a single 6T high-current cell (HCC). An 8T HCC adds a read-pull-down (RPD) and a read-pass-gate (RPG) NMOS transistor, each with two fins. We measured a cell height of 406 nm, which brings the bitcell size to 0.0463 µm². That is a theoretical peak density of 21.6 Mib/mm². We estimate that a 6T HCC would have a cell height of 292 nm and a size of 0.0337 µm². This is ~12% larger than a 6T HCC on Intel 3 and 4. We also estimate the 6T high-density cell (HDC) to have a cell height of 228 nm and a size of 0.0260 µm². This is coincidentally the same as the logic standard-cell height measured earlier. The estimate puts the cell near Samsung 7LPP/5LPP and slightly below TSMC N7/N6. That is a theoretical peak density of 38.5 Mib/mm². 6T HDC is arguably the most important cell as it is used for the largest caches in a chip, the L3 caches and system-level cache (SLC). Both the Kirin 9020 and 9030 have split the SLC into 4 banks to raise total SLC bandwidth. In the Kirin 9030, the SLC increased from 2 MiB to 3 MiB per bank. Correspondingly, the number of arrays within the bank also increased by 50%, from 16 to 24. Each array can store 128 KiB and forms an orderly pattern on the die shot. From the Kirin 9020 to the Kirin 9030, the area of a 128 KiB SLC array decreased from 0.0477 mm² to 0.0392 mm², an 18% shrink. The achieved density is 25.5 Mib/mm², 66% of the theoretical maximum. While the SLC was quite similar across both chips, the L3 has seen some major changes, particularly in terms of its layout. The total capacity also went up from 10 MiB to 12 MiB. Much like the SLC, the L3 is also split into 4 banks. In the Kirin 9020, an L3 bank consisted of 16× 128 KiB arrays and 16× 32 KiB arrays. However, an L3 bank in the Kirin 9030 instead consists of 48× 64 KiB arrays. In the Kirin 9020 L3, a 128 KiB array was 0.0513 mm² and a 32 KiB array was 0.0154 mm². The size of the 128 KiB array is different on the L3 and SLC as the assist circuitry for the two arrays differs depending on their purpose. In the Kirin 9030 L3, a 64 KiB array is 0.0210 mm². Although not a like-for-like comparison, normalized for capacity, it is 18% smaller than the 9020’s 128 KiB L3 array and 31% smaller than its 32 KiB L3 array. The achieved density is slightly lower than the SLC, at 23.8 Mib/mm², 62% of the theoretical maximum. Unlike the L3 and SLC, the prime cores’ private L2 cache uses a 2-bank design. As the prime cores’ L2 is latency-critical, it likely uses 6T HCC instead of 6T HDC. The 9020 has 16 arrays in each bank while the 9030 has 32. Each array has a capacity of 32 KiB. A 32 KiB array in the L2 shrank from 0.0171 mm² to 0.0142 mm², ~17% smaller. The density is 17.6 Mib/mm², ~59% of the theoretical maximum for 6T HCC. SRAM scaled well from N+2 to N+3, shrinking by ~19%, close to the theoretical logic shrink. The caveat is that N+2’s bitcells were unusually large, bigger than comparable 7 nm-class nodes, so part of the gain is catch-up rather than true scaling. With the insights from STEEL’s teardowns, we will be doing a deep dive into SRAM in a future newsletter article. Subscribe Everything above came out of a single STEEL teardown: die annotation, block-level area analysis and TEM cross-sections through logic and SRAM. We’re diving deep into the most advanced datacenter and AI hardware hitting the market. To learn more about what’s in the pipeline or to commission a custom teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. Future Roadmap The same cross-sections that pin down N+3 also show where SMIC can go next. Although N+3 is already close to the practical limits of DUV multi-patterning in several layers, SMIC still has a few scaling levers left. A theoretical N+4 would likely start with cell height. N+3 uses 5 M0 tracks between its power rails. Moving to 4 M0 tracks, as on SMIC N+2 and TSMC N6, could reduce cell height by roughly 15%. The routing grid is only one side of the shrink; the front end also must fit into the smaller cell. One possible FEOL lever is reducing the p-to-n isolation spacing from two diffusion grid units to one. Intel used this scaling booster on Intel 4, and TSMC did so on its N3 family. This path trades layout flexibility for density. Fewer M0 tracks reduce local routing resources, while tighter p-to-n spacing raises integration and design-rule difficulty. M2 is also constrained by the cell height shrink. For SMIC to maintain a ~5.7-track cell, M2 would need to move toward ~35 nm. That would move another layer into SAQP territory. SMIC could also reduce the CGP from 57 nm to 54 nm. Intel reached a similar CGP on Intel 10 nm/Intel 7 without EUV. The local interconnect is also tougher. If SMIC keeps the 3:2 M1-to-gate ratio, M1 would need to shrink to 36 nm and would likely require SAQP as well. If SMIC moves to a 1:1 ratio, M1 could relax to 54 nm, but it would give up routing flexibility. Under this theoretical path, we estimate that SMIC N+4 could reach a cell height of 198 nm and a CGP of 54 nm, implying a Bohr density of 137.8 MTr/mm², on par with TSMC N5 or Samsung SF4. However, the difficulty is cumulative. Each step is individually plausible, but together they make N+4 harder than the transition from N+2 to N+3. It will likely take longer, cost more, and carry less process margin. A theoretical N+5 would require a larger integration shift. One possible path is backside contacts (BSCon), moving power routing and source/drain contacts to the backside, which would reduce front-side routing pressure and enable another reduction in cell height. The front-side metal pitches could relax to reduce the process complexity. M0 would likely relax slightly to ~34 nm, and M2 and M4 pitches could relax further. CGP is unlikely to shrink much further. Even with EUV, 48 nm has been the practical limit for yield and process control. This approach would allow N+5’s cell height to fall to 170 nm and its CGP to 53 nm. This implies a Bohr density of 163.6 MTr/mm², on par with Intel 18A’s HP library. However, this would not make N+5 cost-competitive with the leading edge. It would reach a similar density through a much more expensive route. The integration difficulty rises sharply, with new process flows for backside alignment, wafer thinning, contact reveal, and backside metallization. Past this point, standard density and interconnect scaling become increasingly unattractive. That is where Huawei’s roadmap stops looking like a normal foundry roadmap and starts looking like a packaging roadmap. At ISCAS 2026, Huawei unveiled its tau (τ) scaling law, reframing process scaling in the time domain. τ is the time cost of data movement and processing: switching delays in transistors, RC signal propagation delays in circuits, compute, memory, and networking latency. Outside Huawei’s terminology, this is called system-technology co-optimization. This is Huawei’s answer to its lack of EUV lithography. Without EUV, planar density cannot keep pace with TSMC, Intel, or Samsung. If transistor density cannot shrink further, Huawei’s alternative is to shorten wires, reduce buffering, and stack logic vertically. “LogicFolding”, Huawei’s implementation of this new scaling idea, is, in practice, an aggressive 3D stacking approach. AMD V-Cache places SRAM above or below a CPU die. AMD’s MI350X places active interposer dies (AIDs) underneath accelerator and compute dies (XCDs), with the AIDs handling cache, IO interfaces, the network-on-chip (NoC) and embedded metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors. With LogicFolding, parts of the same logic block are split across multiple active dies bonded face-to-face at ultra-fine pitch. This allows Huawei to shorten some critical paths and reduce buffer overhead, not merely add cache capacity or offload the IO and interconnect. Shortening wires is where the higher clocks come from. A large share of a modern core’s delay and energy budget goes into driving long interconnects and the repeater buffers along them. LogicFolding distributes a block’s critical-path gates across multiple stacked tiers bonded at a very fine pitch, so the bond interface behaves like an additional metal layer and the longest paths get shorter. That is how Huawei expects to recover frequency and efficiency it cannot get from the process alone. Huawei’s roadmap shows its intent. Prime core frequency is targeted to rise from 2.75 GHz in the Kirin 9030 to roughly 5 GHz by 2031, far beyond what planar scaling alone could deliver. Prime cores with 3.1 and 3.39 GHz clocks are being tested in its labs, although their power consumption is unknown. Beyond that, chips are in the design, simulation or pathfinding phase, meaning the frequencies are targets. However, the direction matters more: LogicFolding also helps with performance, not just density. The catch is that Huawei’s density claim is not directly comparable to foundry densities. A stacked design can report more transistors per package footprint by adding active layers, even if each patterned die remains well behind TSMC or Intel in front-end density. This is how Huawei can claim to reach foundry 14A-equivalent density by 2031. This is not a like-for-like foundry comparison, with Huawei using stacked logic and measuring density per package footprint. On a normalized Bohr-density basis, SMIC N+3 is ~114 MTr/mm², 38% less than Intel 18A’s HD library. Huawei’s 3D roadmap closes the gap by stacking active logic, reaching 215 MTr/mm² by 2030. In 2031, the roadmap density jumps to 295 MTr/mm², implying either a third active layer, partial EUV insertion or aggressive planar DUV scaling. Huawei’s methodology makes other foundries look much denser as well. Applying it to AMD’s MI450X with an N2 top die on an N3P base die yields a theoretical density of 460.2 MTr/mm² in 2026, compared with Huawei’s 295 MTr/mm² in 2031. This Kirin 9030 does not use LogicFolding, remaining in a conventional mobile SoC package. Instead, it forms the baseline for how far Huawei and SMIC can push planar scaling. Future teardowns of Kirin and Ascend chips will show both planar logic density and Huawei’s hybrid bonding solutions. Export controls changed China’s optimization problem rather than ending it. EUV restrictions raised the cost and complexity of leading-edge manufacturing without freezing it. SMIC reaches N6-class logic density through DUV immersion, SAQP and DTCO, while Huawei shifts more of the burden onto architecture, packaging and system-level integration. Future nodes will be tougher. N+3 still had room to tighten local metals and reduce cell height and CGP. Further scaling without EUV leaves fewer levers. More aggressive multi-patterning adds masks and overlay error. SMIC can keep pushing DUV, but each step will get more expensive and less forgiving. The design side is just as critical. Huawei had domestic EDA tools and flows before the Kirin 9030, with the Kirin 9000s, 9010 and 9020 making that clear. Huawei was able to ship multiple consumer SoCs on SMIC N+2 and N+3 while cut off from the Western EDA stack. US export controls restricted EDA tools for advanced chips in 2022 but did not target tools for more mature chips. In 2025, the US government briefly placed much broader restrictions on EDA software from Synopsys, Cadence, and others, before lifting them less than two months later as part of a trade deal tied to rare earths. Huawei has been unable to access those tools because it remains on a US trade blacklist. That forced Huawei, SMIC and Chinese academic institutions to build their own tools and flows. Researchers at Peking University recently announced a prototype EDA tool for Huawei’s LogicFolding architecture, which requires a new flow to handle the multilayer layout and floorplan. This is not the same as replacing the full Synopsys or Cadence stack, but it shows where domestic EDA is headed: toward tighter co-optimization between architecture, process and packaging. These advances are also diffusing into the Chinese ecosystem. SMIC is licensing its N+2 and N+3 processes to HLMC/Hua Hong at the government’s direction rather than by choice. If the same process learning feeds into Ascend accelerators for AI training and inference, the choke point shifts from one named fab to an ecosystem. Alibaba’s T-Head silicon arm and Cambricon, a Chinese AI chip designer that is expected to supply ByteDance, could also be major beneficiaries. Sanctions aimed at SMIC alone become less effective once the manufacturing knowledge has spread to other fabs and design houses. China is not closing the gap with Intel, Samsung and TSMC. The teardown shows the opposite in several places: no EUV, no backside power, higher process complexity, and visible trade-offs. But China is still advancing. If domestic chips become good enough for phones, inference, networking and security-sensitive workloads, they can matter strategically without matching TSMC at the leading edge. Behind the paywall, we show what else STEEL can do, with material and process flow analysis of SMIC N+3, and analysis of the Kirin 9030 package. We’re diving deep into the most advanced datacenter and AI hardware hitting the market. To learn more about what’s in the pipeline, access the full Kirin 9030 and SMIC N+3 analysis or to commission a custom teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com.
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