Samsung Electronics Unveils Plans for 1.4nm

Samsung Electronics has unveiled its plans to introduce the 2-nm foundry process in 2025 and 1.4-nm process in 2027.

The company announced a strengthened business strategy for its foundry business at the annual Samsung Foundry Forum event held in San Jose, California, on Oct. 3 (local time).

Samsung has recently brought the gate-all-around (GAA) based 3-nm process technology to mass production for the first time in the global semiconductor industry. At the forum, the company said it will be further enhancing GAA-based technology and introduce the 2-nm process in 2025 and 1.4-nm process in 2027.

With significant market growth in high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), 5/6G connectivity and automotive applications, demand for advanced semiconductors has increased dramatically, making innovation in semiconductor process technology critical to the business success of foundry customers, the company said.

During the event, Samsung also outlined steps its foundry business is taking to meet customers’ needs, including: foundry process technology innovation, process technology optimization for each specific applications, stable production capabilities, and customized services for customers.

“The technology development goal down to 1.4-nm and foundry platforms specialized for each application, together with stable supply through consistent investment are all part of Samsung’s strategies to secure customers’ trust and support their success,” said Choi Si-young, president and head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics. “Realizing every customer’s innovations with our partners has been at the core of our foundry service.”

While pioneering process technologies, Samsung is also accelerating the development of 2.5D/3D heterogeneous integration packaging technology to provide a total system solution in foundry services.

The company said its 3D packaging X-Cube with micro-bump interconnection will be ready for mass production in 2024, and bump-less X-Cube will be available in 2026.

Samsung actively plans to target high-performance and low-power semiconductor markets such as HPC, automotive, 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The company also said it will enhance its GAA-based 3-nm process support for HPC and mobile, while further diversifying the 4-nm process specialized for HPC and automotive applications.

For automotive customers specifically, Samsung is currently providing embedded non-volatile memory (eNVM) solutions based on 28-nm technology. To support automotive-grade reliability, the company plans to further expand process nodes by launching 14-nm eNVM solutions in 2024 and adding 8-nm eNVM in the future. Samsung has been mass-producing 8-nm RF following 14-nm RF, and 5-nm RF is currently in development.

Samsung plans to expand its production capacity for the advanced nodes by more than three times by 2027 compared to this year.

Including the new fab under construction in Taylor, Texas, Samsung’s foundry manufacturing lines are currently in five locations: Giheung, Hwaseong, and Pyeongtaek in Korea; and Austin and Taylor in the United States.

At the event, Samsung detailed its ‘Shell-First’ strategy for capacity investment, building clean rooms first irrespective of market conditions. With clean rooms readily available, fab equipment can be installed later and set up flexibly as needed in line with future demand. Through the new investment strategy, Samsung will be able to better respond to customers’ demands.

Investment plans in a new ‘Shell-First’ manufacturing line in Taylor, following the first line announced last year, as well as potential expansion of Samsung’s global semiconductor production network were also introduced.

Following the Samsung Foundry Forum, Samsung will hold the ‘SAFE Forum’ (Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem) on Oct.r 4. New foundry technologies and strategies with ecosystem partners will be introduced encompassing areas such as Electronic Design Automation (EDA), IP, Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT), Design Solution Partner (DSP) and the Cloud