Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today unveiled plans for continuous process technology migration to 3- and 2-nanometer (nm) based on the company’s Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor structure at its 5^th annual Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) 2021.

With a theme of Adding One More Dimension, the multi-day virtual event is expected to draw over 2,000 global customers and partners. At this year’s event, Samsung will share its vision to bolster its leadership in the rapidly evolving foundry market by taking each respective part of foundry business to the next level: process technology, manufacturing operations and foundry services.

“We will increase our overall production capacity and lead the most advanced technologies while taking silicon scaling a step further and continuing technological innovation by application,” said Dr. Siyoung Choi, President and Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics.” Amid further digitalization prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, our customers and partners will discover the limitless potential of silicon implementation for delivering the right technology at the right time.”

GAA Is Ready for Customers’ Adoption – 3nm MP in 2022, 2nm in 2025

With its enhanced power, performance and flexible design capability, Samsung’s unique GAA technology, Multi-Bridge-Channel FET (MBCFET^TM), is essential for continuing process migration. Samsung’s first 3nm GAA process node utilizing MBCFET will allow up to 35 percent decrease in area, 30 percent higher performance or 50 percent lower power consumption compared to the 5nm process. In addition to power, performance and area (PPA) improvements, as its process maturity has increased, 3nm’s logic yield is approaching a similar level to the 4nm process, which is currently in mass production.

Samsung is scheduled to start producing its customers’ first 3nm-based chip designs in the first half of 2022, while its second generation of 3nm is expected in 2023. Newly added to Samsung’s technology roadmap, the 2nm process node with MBCFET is in the early stages of development with mass production in 2025.

FinFET for CIS, DDI, MCU – 17nm Specialty Process Technology Debuts

Samsung Foundry is continuously improving its FinFET process technology to support specialty products with cost-effective and application-specific competitiveness. A good example of this is the company’s 17nm FinFET process node. In addition to the intrinsic benefits afforded by FinFET, the process node has excellent performance and power efficiency leveraging a 3D transistor architecture. Consequently, Samsung’s 17nm FinFET provides up to 43 percent decrease in area, 39 percent higher performance or a 49 percent increase in power efficiency compared to the 28nm process.

Additionally, Samsung is advancing its 14nm process in order to support 3.3V high voltage or flash-type embedded MRAM (eMRAM) which enables increased write speed and density. It will be a great option for applications such as micro controller units (MCUs), IoT and wearables. Samsung’s 8nm radio frequency (RF) platform is expected to expand the company’s leadership in the 5G semiconductor market from sub-6GHz to mmWave applications.

Looking ahead, in cooperation with its ecosystem partners, Samsung Foundry’s SAFE Forum will be held virtually in November 2021.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced the launch of its latest premium application processor (AP), the Exynos 9 Series 8895. This is Samsung’s first processor chipset to take advantage of the most advanced and industry leading 10-nanometer (nm) FinFET process technology with improved 3D transistor structure, which allows up to 27% higher performance while consuming 40% less power when compared to 14nm technology.

The new Exynos 9 Series 8895 is the first processor of its kind to embed a gigabit LTE modem that supports five carrier aggregation, or 5CA. It delivers fast and stable data throughput at max.1Gbps (Cat.16) downlink with 5CA and 150Mbps (Cat.13) uplink with 2CA.

The Exynos 8895 is an octa-core processor, comprising of four of Samsung’s 2^nd generation custom designed CPU cores for improved performance and power efficiency in addition to four Cortex®-A53 cores. With Samsung Coherent Interconnect (SCI) technology, the latest processor integrates a heterogeneous system architecture that allows faster computing for a wide range of applications such as artificial intelligence, and deep learning.

The Exynos 8895 also delivers unsurpassed multimedia experience with its powerful GPU and multi-format codec (MFC) as well as next level 3D graphic performance that minimizes latency for 4K UHD VR and gaming experience with ARM®’s latest Mali-G71 GPU.

In addition, with its advanced MFC, the processor supports video recording and playback at a maximum resolution of 4K UHD at 120fps. It also comes with video processing technology that enables a higher quality experience by enhancing the image quality; for example, for VR (Virtual Reality) applications, the Exynos 8895 delivers a realistic and immersive VR video experience at 4K resolution.

The Exynos 8895 has a separate processing unit for enhanced security solutions required for mobile payments that use iris or fingerprint recognition as well as an embedded Vision Processing Unit (VPU) that can recognize and analyze items or movements for improved video tracking, panoramic image processing, and machine vision technology.

“In addition to being built on the most advanced 10nm FinFET process technology, the new Exynos 9 Series 8895 incorporates Samsung’s cutting-edge technologies including a 2^nd generation custom CPU, gigabit LTE modem, and more” said Ben Hur, Vice President of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics. “With industry leading technologies like VPU, the Exynos 8895 will drive the innovation of next generation smartphones, VR headsets, and automotive infotainment system.”

The Exynos 9 Series 8895 is currently in mass production.

For more information about Samsung’s Exynos products, please visit www.samsung.com/exynos