SMIC N+3 Metal Pitch Beats Intel 18A

SMIC's third-generation 7 nm N+3 process, shipping in Huawei's Kirin 9030, achieves a minimum metal pitch of 32.5 nm, roughly 10% tighter than Intel 18A's 36 nm pitch on Panther Lake. N+3 reaches TSMC N6 density through aggressive DUV multi-patterning and DTCO, at the cost of complexity and efficiency.