Rapidus Started Prototyping 2nm Production

Japanese startup chipmaker Rapidus started prototyping a 2nm gate-all-around (GAA) transistor at its brand-new fabrication facility. The company said its prototype 2nm GAA transistors had begun to obtain electrical characteristics, a term referring to conductivity, resistance, voltage, power, and frequency.

The achievement leaves the company on track to commence mass production in 2027. It aims to release a compatible process development kit to some customers at the beginning of 2026 to enable them to begin their own prototyping processes.

Rapidus credited its recently completed IIM-1 foundry for the 2nm transistor breakthrough. It broke ground on the facility in September 2023, finished building a clean room in 2024, and connected more than 200 of the world’s most advanced pieces of semiconductor equipment last month.

The company believes IIM-1 is a significant advancement on traditional foundry models, one that reimagines how semiconductor factories should think, learn, adapt, and optimise processes in real time. Rapidus employs technologies including fully single-wafer front-end processing and extreme Ultraviolet lithography, stating it is among the frontrunners in each field.