TSMC increases estimate of hit from a bad photoresist

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is providing new details on the impact of a faulty photoresist shipped by one of its chemical suppliers. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, says it will have to scrap more silicon wafers than it earlier estimated, leading to a drop in first-quarter sales of about $550 million. The company says a batch of photoresist contained a component that was abnormally treated, creating a foreign polymer that contaminated the wafers. Industry sources say the firm’s key photoresist suppliers are Dow Chemical, JSR, and Shin-Etsu Chemical.