Samsung Electronics held a product shipment ceremony for 3nm (nanometer, 1nm is 1 billionth of a meter) foundry (semiconductor consignment production) applied with gate all-around (GAA) technology, a next-generation transistor structure, at the V1 line of the Hwaseong campus in Gyeonggi Province on the 25th. Samsung Electronics is the first in the world to mass-produce 3nm using GAA technology.
The event was attended by more than 100 people including Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang, partner companies, Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor (DS) division head Gye-hyung (president), and executives and employees. Samsung Electronics’ foundry division, which participated in the event, announced its aspiration to ‘go forward with innovative technology to become the best in the world’, and through a technology development progress report, the foundry division, semiconductor research center, and global manufacturing & infrastructure division, etc. emphasized overcoming it.
President Kyung said, “Samsung Electronics made a mark in the foundry business with this product mass production.” After encouraging executives and employees, “Successful in early development of GAA technology, which will be a new alternative when FinFET transistors reach their technological limits, is unprecedented. It creates innovative results.”
On the morning of the 25th, the wafer is being unveiled at the ‘World’s First GAA-based 3nm Mass Production Shipment Ceremony’ held at Samsung Electronics’ Hwaseong Campus in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do. 2022.07.25. Mars = news
Samsung Electronics started researching the structure of GAA transistors in the early 2000s, and applied it to the 3-nm process in 2017, and announced the world’s first mass production of the 3-nano process with GAA technology last month. GAA is characterized by high data processing speed and power efficiency compared to the existing finFET structure in which the gate covers the 4 sides of the channel through which the current flows in the transistor constituting the semiconductor and covers the 3 sides of the channel.
Samsung Electronics’ 3nm GAA 1st generation process can reduce power by 45% and improve performance by 23% compared to the existing 5nm FinFET process. Samsung Electronics plans to apply the 3nm GAA process to high-performance computing (HPC) for the first time and expand it to various product groups including major customers and mobile SoC products.
Partners and fabless companies also analyzed that 3nm mass production would have a positive impact on the development of the domestic semiconductor industry. Wonik IPS CEO Lee Hyun-duk, a domestic semiconductor equipment maker, said, “We are preparing for mass production of the 3-nano GAA foundry process together with Samsung Electronics, and the capabilities of Wonik IPS employees have been further strengthened.”
Lee Jang-gyu, CEO of Telechips, a domestic fabless company, said, “Telechips has high expectations for future product designs using Samsung Electronics’ ultra-fine processes. We are providing various support measures to broaden the scope of design.”
Minister Lee urged “Samsung Electronics, the system semiconductor industry, and the general manager industry to come together to stay ahead in the fierce competition for microprocessing,” and “The government is fully committed to supporting private investment, nurturing human resources, developing technology, and building a manager ecosystem.” We will spare no effort,” he emphasized.