By leveraging Samsung’s leading-edge foundry and advanced packaging products, Preferred Networks aims to develop powerful AI accelerators that meet the ever-growing demand for computing power driven by generative AI.

Since starting mass production of the industry’s first 3nm process node applying Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor architecture, Samsung has strengthened its GAA technology leadership by successfully winning orders for the 2nm process with further upgrades in performance and power efficiency.

The cooperation with Preferred Networks marks the first achievement for Japanese companies in the field of large-sized heterogeneous integrated package technologies and Samsung plans to accelerate its leading global advanced package market offensive.¹

The 2.5D Advanced Package I-Cube S technology included in the turnkey solutions, is a heterogeneous integration package technology, with multiple chips in one package to enhance inter-connection speed and reduce package size. The use of the silicon interposer (Si-interposer) is crucial in achieving ultra-fine redistribution layer (RDL) and stabilizing power integrity for optimal semiconductor performance. GAONCHIPS, a specialized system semiconductor development company, designed the chip.

“We are excited to lead in AI accelerator technology with Samsung Electronics’ 2nm GAA process. This solution will significantly support Preferred Networks’ ongoing efforts to build highly energy-efficient, high-performance computing hardware that meets the ever-growing computing demands from generative AI technologies, especially large language models.,” said Junichiro Makino, VP and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Computing Architecture at Preferred Networks.

“This order is pivotal as it validates Samsung’s 2nm GAA process technology and Advanced Package technology as an ideal solution for next-generation AI accelerators,” said Taejoong Song, Corporate VP and the head of Foundry Business Development Team at Samsung Electronics. “We are committed to closely collaborating with our customers ensuring that the high performance and low power characteristics of our products are fully realized.”

Preferred Networks, headquartered in Tokyo, develops advanced software and hardware technologies by vertically integrating the AI value chain from chips to supercomputers and generative AI foundation models. It provides solutions and products for various industries such as manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, entertainment and education. The company is one of the major players in the global AI market, achieving first place three times in the past five years on the Green500² list of supercomputers.

Based on this collaboration, Samsung and Preferred Networks plan to showcase groundbreaking AI chiplet solutions for the next-generation data center and generative AI computing market in the future.³

¹ Heterogeneous integration packaging technology integrates different types of chips – such as memory, logic and sensors – in a single package.
² Green500: the ranking of the TOP500 supercomputers in the world based on their performance-per-watt efficiency
³ Chiplet Solution: A technology of assembling into a single package with other different chips performing different fuctions through the packaging technologies

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced its latest foundry technology innovations and business strategy at the 7^th annual Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) 2023.

Under the theme “Innovation Beyond Boundaries,” this year’s forum delved into Samsung Foundry’s mission to address customer needs in the artificial intelligence (AI) era through advanced semiconductor technology.

Over 700 guests, from customers and partners of Samsung Foundry, attended this year’s event, of which 38 companies hosted their own booths to share the latest technology trends in the foundry industry.

“Samsung Foundry has always met customer needs by being ahead of the technology innovation curve, and today, we are confident that our gate-all-around (GAA)-based advanced node technology will be instrumental in supporting the needs of our customers using AI applications,” said Dr. Siyoung Choi, President and Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics. “Ensuring the success of our customers is the most central value to our foundry services.”

As part of its business strategy to solidify its competitiveness as a leading foundry service, Samsung Foundry today announced the following:

• Expanded applications of its 2-nanometer (nm) process and specialty process
• Expanded production capacity at its Pyeongtaek fab Line 3 (P3)
• Launched a new “Multi-Die Integration (MDI) Alliance” for next-generation packaging technology
• Continued progress in the foundry ecosystem with Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE) partners

Leading the Industry With Expanded 2nm Applications and Specialty Processes

At the event, Samsung announced detailed plans for the mass production of its 2nm process, as well as performance levels.

The company will begin mass production of the 2nm process for mobile applications in 2025, then expand to HPC in 2026 and automotive in 2027. Samsung’s 2nm process (SF2) has shown a 12% increase in performance, a 25% increase in power efficiency and a 5% decrease in area, when compared to its 3nm process (SF3).

Mass production of SF1.4 will begin in 2027 as planned.

From 2025, Samsung will begin foundry services for 8-inch gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductors targeting consumer, data center and automotive applications.

To secure the most cutting-edge technology in 6G, the 5nm Radio Frequency (RF) is also under development and will be available in the first half of 2025. Samsung’s 5nm RF process shows a 40% increase in power efficiency and a 50% decrease in area compared to the previous 14nm process.

In addition, the company will add automotive applications to its 8nm and 14nm RF, expanding beyond the mobile applications currently under mass production.

Stabilizing the Supply Chain and Meeting Customer Needs With Expanded Capacity

Under the “Shell-First” operation strategy that aims to better respond to customer demands, Samsung Foundry is maintaining its commitment to invest and build capacity by adding new manufacturing lines in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and Taylor, Texas. Current expansion plans will increase the company’s clean room capacity by 7.3 times by 2027 compared to 2021.

The company plans to begin mass production of foundry products for mobile and other applications at Pyeongtaek Line 3 in the second half of the year. Samsung is also focusing on increasing its manufacturing capacity in the United States. Construction of the new fab in Taylor is proceeding according to initial plans and is expected to finish by the end of the year, beginning operation in the second half of 2024.

Samsung will continue to expand its production base to Yongin, South Korea, to power the next generation of Samsung’s foundry services. Yongin is a nearby city located about 10km east of Samsung’s Hwaseong and Giheung campuses.

Leading the “Beyond Moore” Era With New Multi-Die Integration Alliance

In a bid to address the rapid growth in the chiplet market for mobile and HPC applications, Samsung is launching the MDI Alliance in collaboration with its partner companies as well as major players in memory, substrate packaging and testing.

The MDI Alliance leads innovation in stacking technology by forming a packaging technology ecosystem for 2.5D and 3D Heterogeneous Integration. Together with partners across the ecosystem, Samsung will provide a one-stop turnkey service to better support customers’ technological innovation.

Samsung plans to actively respond to customer and market needs by developing customized packaging solutions that are tailored to the individual needs of various applications including HPC and automotive.

Pushing Boundaries With Partners for Enhanced Fabless Support

Following the Samsung Foundry Forum, Samsung will be hosting the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE) Forum on June 28 under the theme “Accelerating the Speed of Innovation.”

Together with over a hundred partners across electronic design automation (EDA), design solution partners (DSP), outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT), cloud and IP, Samsung is promoting mutual growth of the foundry ecosystem to power the success of customers.

Samsung has long supported stronger collaboration between partners across the foundry ecosystem, advancing the boundaries of design infrastructure from 8-inch to the latest GAA process. Samsung and its 23 EDA partners now offer over 80 design tools and is also collaborating with 10 OSAT partners to develop 2.5D/3D packaging design solutions.

Samsung provides product design services to a variety of customers from startups to industry leaders through strong partnerships with nine DSP partners that have extensive expertise in Samsung Foundry processes, as well as nine Cloud partners.

Samsung has also secured a portfolio of over 4,500 key IPs from 50 global IP partners. Samsung plans to secure additional next-generation high-speed interface IPs for SF2, including LPDDR5x, HBM3P, PCIe Gen6 and 112G SerDes. Its long-term partnerships with leading global IP providers in their respective fields will help cater to customer needs in AI, HPC and automotive.

“Through extensive collaboration with our SAFE partners, Samsung Foundry is helping simplify designs that are becoming even more complex amid the application of the most advanced processes and new technologies such as heterogeneous integration,” said Jong-wook Kye, Executive Vice President and Head of Design Platform Development, Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to strive for consistent growth in the Samsung Foundry ecosystem in terms of both scale and quality.”

Samsung Electronics will be hosting the Samsung Foundry Forum 2023 in South Korea in July, and the event will expand to Europe and Asia later in the year to meet customers in each region.

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. To that end, Samsung highlighted its commitment to bringing its most advanced process technology, 1.4-nanometer (nm), for mass production in 2027.

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

▲ Dr. Siyoung Choi, president and head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics, is giving his keynote speech at Samsung Foundry Forum 2022.

“The technology development goal down to 1.4nm 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 Dr. Siyoung Choi, 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.”

Showcasing Samsung’s Advanced Node Roadmap Down to 1.4nm in 2027

With the company’s success of bringing the latest 3nm process technology to mass production, Samsung will be further enhancing gate-all-around (GAA) based technology and plans to introduce the 2nm process in 2025 and 1.4nm process in 2027.

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.

Through continuous innovation, 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.

▲ Dr. Siyoung Choi, president and head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics, is giving his keynote speech at Samsung Foundry Forum 2022.

Proportion of HPC, Automotive and 5G To Be More Than 50% by 2027

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

To better meet customers’ needs, customized and tailored process nodes were introduced during this year’s Foundry Forum. Samsung will enhance its GAA-based 3nm process support for HPC and mobile, while further diversifying the 4nm process specialized for HPC and automotive applications.

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

‘Shell-First’ Operation Strategy To Respond to Customer Needs in a Timely Manner

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 cleanrooms first irrespective of market conditions. With cleanrooms 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.

Expanding the SAFE Ecosystem To Strengthen Customized Services

Following the ‘Samsung Foundry Forum,’ Samsung will hold the ‘SAFE Forum’ (Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem) on October 4th. 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.

In addition to 70 partner presentations, Samsung Design Platform team leaders will introduce the possibility of applying Samsung’s processes such as Design Technology Co-Optimization for GAA and 2.5D/3DIC.

As of 2022, Samsung provides more than 4,000 IPs with 56 partners, and is also cooperating with nine and 22 partners in the design solution and EDA, respectively. It also offers cloud services with nine partners and packaging services with 10 partners.

Along with its ecosystem partners, Samsung provides integrated services that support solutions from IC design to 2.5D/3D packages.

Through its robust SAFE ecosystem, Samsung plans to identify new fabless customers by strengthening customized services with improved performance, rapid delivery and price competitiveness, while actively attracting new customers such as hyperscalers and start-ups.

Starting in the United States (San Jose) on October 3rd, the ‘Samsung Foundry Forum’ will be sequentially held in Europe (Munich, Germany) on the 7th, Japan (Tokyo) on the 18th and Korea (Seoul) on the 20th, through which customized solutions for each region will be introduced. A recording of the event will be available online from the 21st for those who were unable to attend in person.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, held its 3^rd Annual Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE^TM) Forum 2021 virtually today.

With the theme of ‘Performance Platform 2.0: Innovation, Intelligence, Integration’, Samsung and its foundry ecosystem partners prepared 7 plenary talks and 76 technology sessions focused on three main topics: Gate-All-Around (GAA, Innovation), Artificial Intelligence (AI, Intelligence) and 2.5D/3D (Integration) technologies and the diverse design infrastructures required for high-performance applications.

“In the rapidly changing data-centric era, Samsung and its foundry partners have made great strides responding to increasing customers demand and to support their success by providing powerful solutions,” said Ryan Lee, Senior Vice President and Head of Foundry Design Platform Development at Samsung Electronics. “With the support of our SAFE program, Samsung will lead the realization of the vision ‘Performance Platform 2.0’.”

Starting with a keynote live streaming on November 17, attendees are able to explore a variety of tech sessions and engage with ecosystem partners through the virtual SAFE Forum platform for a month. To register for SAFE forum, please visit https://www.samsungfoundry.com.

SAFE 2021: Performance Platform 2.0

Samsung has concentrated on expanding its foundry ecosystem by focusing on IP, Electronic Design Automation (EDA), Cloud, Design Solution Partner (DSP) and Package solutions necessary for today’s data-driven era. Samsung introduced today its latest SAFE^TM program including:

• SAFE^TM-IP & EDA: Samsung and its foundry ecosystem have reserved over 3,600 IPs and 80 certified EDA tools respectively. These are developed and verified based on the high-standard certification program run by Samsung and participated in by our partners. In order to respond to the demands of high performance applications, Samsung’s foundry ecosystem has developed not only HPC-specific foundation IPs including standard cell libraries and memory compilers but also key IPs, such as over 100Gbps Serializer-Deserializer (SerDes) interface and 2.5D/3D multi-die integration solutions.
  
  With our EDA partners, Samsung has secured design tools optimized for its unique 3-nanometer (nm) GAA process technology and design methodology for integrating multiple dies in 2.5D/3D. Customers can also utilize AI- and machine learning-based EDA technology to systematically manage and analyze design data. To overcome the increasing difficulties of chip design and analysis, Samsung has strengthened cooperation with partners to develop EDA tools and related technologies, such as incorporating GPUs that can efficiently use computing resources required for chip verification.

• SAFE^TM-OSAT: Samsung plans to lead ‘beyond-Moore’ technologies by strengthening various package line-ups such as 2.5D/3D through the expansion of its SAFE-Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) ecosystem. The recent announcement of the co-development of Hybrid-Substrate Cube (H-Cube) solution, which offers efficient integration of 6 HBMs and cost benefit, is one of the successful examples of Samsung foundry’s collaboration with the OSAT community.

• SAFE^TM-Cloud Design Platform: SAFE^TM-CDP, the cloud-based one-stop design platform introduced last year, now supports a hybrid cloud function that can be linked to customers’ conventional design environments.

• SAFE^TM-DSP: Through the SAFE^TM-DSP ecosystem, Samsung and its global partners can actively support global fabless companies to implement their design ideas into custom product by utilizing cutting-edge process technologies as well as high-performance, low-power chip design knowledge.

[Quote from SAFE^TM Partner companies]

• Ansys, Ajei Gopal, CEO

“Today’s chips demand a full multiphysics approach, which requires engineering simulation. Ansys is proud to partner with Samsung to deliver a comprehensive multi-physics analysis flow for Samsung’s multi-die integration initiative. The benefits to joint customers, to the industry – and to the entire world – are tremendous. Semiconductors will drive innovations as varied as autonomous and electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and mobile technologies, including 5G and beyond.”

• Arm, Simon Segars, CEO

“Our longstanding partnership with Samsung Foundry has been essential for growing business opportunities in many markets for our combined partner ecosystem. This close collaboration continues as we work together to optimize our Armv9 next-generation processors on Samsung Foundry’s leading-edge processes, including GAA, to deliver a best-in-class solution that is optimized for the world of today, and the technologies of tomorrow. Together, we are unlocking new opportunities across HPC, Automotive, AI, and IoT, while also managing rising complexities, enabling faster time to market.”

• Cadence, Lip-Bu Tan, CEO

“The Cadence Intelligent System Design strategy is very well-aligned with Samsung Foundry’s Performance Platform 2.0 with common themes of innovation, pervasive intelligence and integrated solutions. Together, we’re enabling customers to develop and deliver innovative, breakthrough products using Samsung’s most advanced process and packaging technologies, and we look forward to continuing our work with Samsung Foundry to accelerate design successes”

• Siemens EDA, A. J. Incorvaia, Senior Vice President

“The Samsung SAFE event provides an exceptionally valuable venue for the Samsung Foundry ecosystem to meet, share information and identify opportunities to fully leverage Samsung’s cutting-edge process technologies. Siemens EDA looks forward to this year’s Samsung SAFE event and the many opportunities it presents for collaborating with customers and partners to eliminate design obstacles and enhance silicon success.”

• Synopsys, Sassine Ghazi, president and COO

“We see exciting times ahead as software and chip technology come together to create world-changing new products,” said Sassine Ghazi, president and COO of Synopsys. “We have strong programs with Samsung Foundry on 3nm gate-all-around enablement, broad IP certification, AI-assisted chip design and 2.5/3D multi-die design to name just a few. We welcome the strong collaboration opportunities offered by the Samsung SAFE initiative.”

In order to reduce the size of semiconductors, FinFET architecture was introduced to further scale gate length. As Samsung designed even smaller microchips, new challenges arose, and achieving below 4-5 nm has proved difficult when using the current FinFET transistor architecture. This observation has spurred the company to innovate and implement its new Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistors.

Samsung re-designed the existing GAA to become the Multi Bridge Channel FET (MBCFET). The MBCFET is more power-efficient than the GAA, and its performance is subsequently better. Samsung’s patented MBCFET is formed as a nanosheet, allowing for a larger current and simpler device integration.

Take a look at the infographic below to learn more about how Samsung’s GAA is advancing the future of semiconductor technology.

With comprehensive process technology roadmap updates down to 3-nanometer (nm) at the annual ‘Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) 2018 USA’, Samsung Foundry is focused on providing customers with the tools necessary to design and manufacture powerful, yet energy-efficient system-on-chips (SoC) for a wide range of applications.

“The trend toward a smarter, connected world has the industry demanding more from silicon providers,” said Charlie Bae, executive vice president and head of the Foundry Sales & Marketing Team at Samsung Electronics. “To meet that demand, Samsung Foundry is powering innovation at the silicon level that will ultimately give people access to data, analysis, and insight in new and previously unthought-of ways to make human lives better. It is imperative for us to accomplish the first-time silicon success for our customers’ next-generation chip designs.”

Process Technology Roadmap Updates

• 7LPP (7nm Low Power Plus): 7LPP, the first semiconductor process technology to use an EUV lithography solution, is scheduled to be ready for production in the second half of this year. Key IPs are under development, aiming to be completed by the first half of 2019.

• 5LPE (5nm Low Power Early): Through further smart innovation from the 7LPP process, 5LPE will allow greater area scaling and ultra-low power benefits.

• 4LPE/LPP (4nm Low Power Early/Plus): The use of highly mature and verified FinFET technology will be extended to the 4nm process. As the last generation of FinFET, 4nm provides a smaller cell size, improved performance, and faster ramp-up to the stable level of yield by adopting proven 5LPE, supporting easy migration.

• 3GAAE/GAAP (3nm Gate-All-Around Early/Plus): 3nm process nodes adopt GAA, the next-generation device architecture. To overcome the physical scaling and performance limitations of the FinFET architecture, Samsung is developing its unique GAA technology, MBCFET^TM (Multi-Bridge-Channel FET) that uses a nano-sheet device. By enhancing the gate control, the performance of 3nm nodes will be significantly improved.

HPC (High-Performance Computing) Solutions

Samsung Foundry delivers the technology solutions to drive the latest hyper-scale datacenters and accelerate the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning capability. From the latest 7LPP technology and beyond with its EUV capability, to the differentiated high-speed IPs such as 100Gbps+ SerDes on top of the innovative 2.5D/3D heterogeneous packaging, Samsung delivers the total platform solutions to greatly increase computing power and accelerate AI revolution.

Connected Device Solutions

From low-power microcontroller units (MCU) and next-generation connected devices to the most sophisticated autonomous vehicles based on 5G and Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communication, Samsung Foundry offers full-featured turnkey platforms to enable compelling products. A broad technology portfolio from 28/18 FD-SOI with eMRAM and RF capability to advanced 10/8nm FinFET processes will enable a great end-user experience for connected devices.

Mr. Bae continued, “Over the past year, we have focused on strengthening our EUV process portfolio to provide each of our customers with the finest technologies. Applying GAA structure to our next generation process node will enable us to take the lead in opening a new smart, connected world, while also to reinforcing our technology leadership.”

Details regarding Samsung Foundry can be found at www.samsungfoundry.com and www.linkedin.com/company/samsungfoundry.