Samsung outlined its foundry enterprise roadmap for the subsequent 5 years at its Foundry Discussion board occasion final week. The corporate plans to introduce its subsequent technology fabrication applied sciences in a well timed method and intends to make chips on its 1.4 nm (14 angstroms) manufacturing course of by 2027. Additionally, the corporate will hold investing in new manufacturing capability going ahead because it strives to strengthen its place within the foundry market.
New Nodes Incoming
Samsung has been introducing new manufacturing nodes and/or variants on manufacturing nodes each 12 – 18 months for a number of years now, and plans to maintain its reasonably aggressive tempo going ahead. Although the corporate’s roadmap illustrates, fanfare apart, that it’s now taking longer to develop new fabrication processes. The corporate’s second-generation 3 nm-class gate-all-around (3GAP) know-how is now set to reach someday in 2024. In the meantime, Samsung Foundry intends to be prepared with its 2 nm (20 angstroms) node in 2025, and with its 1.4 nm-branded fabrication course of in 2027.
“With the corporate’s success of bringing the most recent [3 nm-class] course of know-how to mass manufacturing, Samsung will likely be additional enhancing gate-all-around (GAA) based mostly know-how and plans to introduce the two nm course of in 2025 and 1.4 nm course of in 2027,” a press release by Samsung reads.
| Chip Fab Roadmaps Information introduced throughout convention calls, occasions, press briefings and press releases |
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| HVM Begin | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | ||
| Intel | Course of | Intel 3 | Intel 20A | Intel 18A | ? | ? | |
| FET | FinFET | RibbonFET + PowerVia | ? | ? | |||
| EUV | 0.33 NA EUV | 0.55 Excessive-NA EUV | |||||
| Samsung | Course of | 3GAE | 3GAP | 2.0 nm | 1.4 nm | ||
| FET | GAAFET | ? | ? | ? | |||
| EUV | 0.33 NA EUV | ? | ? | ? | |||
| TSMC | Course of | N3E/N3P | N3S/N3X | N2 | N2? | ||
| FET | FinFET | GAAFET | GAAFET with bottom energy supply (?) | ||||
| EUV | 0.33 NA EUV | ? | ? | ? | |||
Portray some very broad strokes, in comparison with these of Intel and TSMC, it looks as if TSMC is somewhat bit extra conservative (which is one thing anticipated if you end up the world’s largest distinction maker of microelectronics). Whereas Intel is extra aggressive (which is once more anticipated given the corporate’s place out there of semiconductors). In the meantime, naming of fabrication processes nowadays is actually aspiratory, with little connection to their actual bodily measures. Which is why evaluating completely different semiconductor corporations’ roadmaps is an imprecise metric at finest.
Along with new ‘basic’ nodes, Samsung plans to develop its course of know-how optimization applications for every particular software in addition to custom-made companies for patrons, the corporate stated.
In the meantime, one of many issues that Samsung notably did not point out in its press launch regarding its 1.4 nm node is utilization of Excessive-NA tools. Intel, for its half, plans to make use of Excessive-NA beginning its Intel 18A node (in 2024), the place it’ll ultimately be supplanting the EUV multi-patterning used on preliminary 18A manufacturing.
Based on Samsung, the adoption of recent course of applied sciences and demand for brand new fabrication processes will likely be pushed by already recognized mega developments — AI, autonomous automobiles, automotive purposes normally, HPC, 5G, and eventual 6G connectivity. Retaining in thoughts that Samsung is a big industrial conglomorate with many divisions, a lot of purposes that it intends to handle with future course of nodes are its personal.
The corporate disclosed final week that its LSI Enterprise (chip growth division) at present affords round 900 merchandise, which embody SoCs, picture sensors, modems, show driver IC (DDI), energy administration IC (PMIC), and safety options. Going ahead the corporate plans to place much more efforts into growth of performance-demanding IP, together with CPU and GPU, by working nearer with its trade companions (which presumably contains Arm and AMD).
Expanded Manufacturing Capability
Providing state-of-the-art manufacturing applied sciences is sweet, however to provide these superior chips in adequate portions to satisfy market calls for is equally essential. To that finish, Samsung introduced that the corporate may also proceed to take a position closely into constructing out further manufacturing capability. Within the current years Samsung’s semiconductor capability CapEx was round $30 billion a yr and it doesn’t appear to be the agency plans to place a cap on its spendings (although it’s noteworthy that it doesn’t disclose how a lot cash it intends to spend).
Samsung plans to develop its manufacturing capability for its ‘superior’ course of applied sciences by greater than three-fold by 2027. Whereas the businesses shouldn’t be naming the nodes it considers “superior”, we’d anticipate a big addition of its EUV capability within the subsequent 5 years – particularly as extra ASML EUV machines develop into out there. In the meantime, the corporate will undertake ‘Shell-First’ techniques in its growth and assemble buildings and clear rooms first, and add tools afterward relying on market circumstances.
Samsung’s new fab underneath building close to Taylor, Texas, will likely be one of many firm’s foremost automobiles so as to add capability within the coming years. The shell-first website will begin to produce chips in 2024. And because the firm provides new instruments to the fab and construct new phases, manufacturing capability of the positioning will additional improve.
Supply: Samsung
