In a keynote speech at the 2021 Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) Memory+ Conference, Jinman Han, Executive Vice President and Head of Memory Global Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics, proclaimed that Samsung was ready to work with the entire industry to develop next-generation memory solutions that will be needed in the near future. The GSA Memory+ Conference is the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s premier event, which brings the global memory, logic and system design communities together to discuss advancing memory and system architectures.

The memory industry has long focused its efforts on satisfying demand for larger capacities and faster speeds, as well as higher bandwidth. However, in order to keep up with growing demand, the industry will need to look beyond individual innovations and assess the bigger picture. Samsung is committed to collaborating with the industry in this area and intends to lead the development of next-generation solutions.

The massive and ongoing rise in data has exposed a need for revolutionary change in memory computation and subsystems. In response, Samsung has been leading the development of technologies that can be used to give existing system architectures a much-needed update, including HBM-PIM, AXDIMM, Smart SSDs and CXL-based DRAM.

Having been the first in the memory industry to utilize EUV and HKMG process technology, Samsung is uniquely positioned to introduce in a new era of powerful memory innovations. The company has been optimizing thermal performance by advancing innovations like Hybrid Copper Bonding (HCB), while its V-NAND technologies continue to redefine how memory is stacked.

“I believe our industry will rise to this challenge not by innovating independently, but by finding solutions together,” said Han. “Going forward, we’ll develop a new IT ecosystem together that is much more powerful and sustainable, one which will be needed to architect the digital future.”

Click on the video below to watch the keynote.

Coming to work may be a daily grind, but it helps if the walk to the office is a pleasant stroll. What also helps is that, under a few ground rules, employees use flexible working hours, making it easier to manage work-life balance.

Semiconductors are fabricated in “cleanrooms,” where the environment is strictly managed to keep internal conditions, such as temperature, humidity and air pressure, at a constant level. Such measures are optimized for the ever-shrinking chips being manufactured, today mostly designed in nanometer (nm) scale, as well as for the workers inside.

Given the fact that 10nm is about one 10,000th the width of a single strand of hair, even a particle in few-cubic-micrometers could easily damage the circuits on our advanced chips. Workers wear “smocks” to prevent particles from being released into the cleanroom and would go through an air shower before entering the area. Even special paper and pens are required to take notes in there.

One of the key initiatives that go in tandem with efficient manufacturing is the safety of our workers on site. More than 500 safety professionals on staff oversee everyday operations and conduct regular inspections to ensure that all of our facilities comply with the most stringent regulations, locally and globally.

Every team within the company is required to train at least one of its members as an emergency care agent. The agents receive 16 hours of training on emergency response, including life-saving techniques such as CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and the Heimlich maneuver.

Employees are also trained to put out fires. As shown above, new hires begin safety training when they are initially hired and continue on a monthly basis throughout their careers based on a custom-curated curriculum.

Of course, there is a lot of research, development and other day-to-day businesses that go on but it’s also vital for us to stay active. Several sports fields around campus as well as an indoor stadium are very popular with more than 160 inter-company sports clubs’ activities, company events and performances.

Even at tech companies, often the question of the day is what to have for lunch. Calories and sodium levels of each plate are displayed on the menu so that employees can make healthy and informed decisions about their diet.

The 12 cafeterias at the Giheung and Hwaseong campuses run 24-7, with up to 20 menu selections a day from all corners of the world that would tickle any palette.

A walk after lunch is an excellent way to start the afternoon. More than 600,000m² of greenspace is managed in Giheung and Hwaseong campuses combined, an area equivalent to more than 75 soccer fields.

A coffee break under a tree is just as refreshing. More than 60,000 trees in Giheung and Hwaseong campuses include numerous species such as pine, oak, ginkgo and elm, which provide the perfect shade to cool off.

Employees can also look after their health by working out at one of the several gyms across campus that are equipped for weights, treadmill, swimming, pilates, squash and climbing. About 4,000 employees per day use the gyms regularly.

Personal trainers are also available on site to help you work out the muscles you didn’t know you had.

In case of the unfortunate event of feeling under the weather, employees can drop by the healthcare center on site for primary care from physicians, dentists, dermatologists, acupuncturists, pharmacists and counselors on staff. Physical therapy, musculoskeletal treatment and regular health checkup services are also available.

Samsung Electronics has been a major player in the semiconductor industry since the early ‘80s and has strived to deliver advanced technologies that bring meaningful changes to our everyday lives.

In this two-part series, we will take a closer look at our semiconductor operations in Giheung and Hwaseong in Korea, where most of its state-of-the-art semiconductors are developed and made.

Samsung’ Semiconductor Business has recently seen unprecedented success, largely owing to surging demand in advanced memory products for both consumer and enterprise, as well as a diversified IT landscape with critical drivers such as IoT, automobiles and AI.

The shift towards these data-intensive and hyper-connected platforms has spurred expanded investments in data centers, enterprise servers, network systems and HPC (high-performance computing) that require the highest level of performance and energy efficiency in large capacities. Samsung’s high-capacity memory solutions such as DRAM, V-NAND SSDs and HBM2 (high bandwidth memory) address this growing trend while mobile memory solutions with fast and efficient V-NAND technology continue to power today’s smart mobile devices.

Along with Samsung’s memory chips, CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) image sensors are also among the S.LSI business’ flagship products for Samsung. Its proprietary ISOCELL® technology separates each pixel with a physical barrier that hugely boosts image quality and enables smaller pixels. Consumer demand for DSLR-quality pictures and dual-lens cameras are spurring growth in the high-performance image sensor market. In addition to image sensors, display driver ICs (DDI), mobile processors and connectivity solutions also add to the business’ comprehensive product portfolio.

Our legacy all began with this—the 64Kb DRAM. About a decade later since its establishment in 1974, Samsung’s semiconductor business made its first mark in the industry with the chip. Its development narrowed the technology gap with industry forerunners from ten years to four. In 1992, Samsung became the top DRAM manufacturer with the development of the 64Mb DRAM and rose as the top memory manufacturer the year after.

Before there were smartphones, we flipped through phone books to look up a contact. Just when Samsung’s very first semiconductor was being developed, these company phone books from 1983 and 1984 “stored” valuable information that connected our organization. Just like the smartphones today, these fit comfortably in the pockets.

At the heart of the Giheung Campus is the Administration Building (left), Line 1 (right) and Line 2 peeking through in between, where Samsung’s semiconductor history began in the mid-‘70s. The Admin building and Line 2 stand as they did more than 30 years ago while Line 1 was rebuilt for upgrades.

In front of the Administration building stands the Muhantamgusang (Statue of Infinite Study) since Day 1 of Samsung’s semiconductor business. The statue symbolizes founder Byung-chul Lee’s vision and mission for the business, and the spirit of continuous curiosity, research and study is at the core of Samsung’s operations. The bronze statue was commissioned to sculptor Se-Jung Kim, who is famous for his statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Plaza.

The most recent addition to Samsung’s production lines in Korea is Line 17 in the Hwaseong Campus adjacent to Giheung. Since its opening in 2016, the line has been manufacturing logic chips for foundry customers along with DRAM. The Foundry Business has successfully been producing the industry’s first 10-nanometer (nm) mobile processor since earlier this year and is diversifying its product lineup to IoT, automobiles, home appliances and PCs.

One of the advantages of Samsung’s semiconductor manufacturing sites is that they are in clusters, which allows not only quick decision-making and real-time management around the clock but also tool sharing between manufacturing lines that maximize the efficiency of its resources. The bridge between fabrication lines shown above is an example of this kind of flexibility.

Approximately 23 percent of the industrial water used for Samsung’s semiconductor operations is recycled at wastewater treatment facilities as shown above. Internal pollutant discharge standards are set 30 percent lower than the law requires, and discharged water temperatures are strictly controlled to minimize the impact on the ecosystem and redirect the heat for energy reuse.

Semiconductor fabrication uses a variety of chemicals in large amounts which demand strict and safe management of these materials. Samsung’s Central Chemical Supply System (CCSS) is where chemicals used in manufacturing are stored and supplied to their destination. Supply systems are enclosed within chambers equipped with local ventilation as a safety precaution.

All piping and joints at the CCSS are doubled and sealed in case of any leakage.

The CCSS are monitored 24-7 in real time for chemical input/output as well as any abnormalities such as shortage, leakage or spill.

Semiconductor technologies are moving ahead at light speed, but that doesn’t mean that we are exempt from the responsibility to ensure that the technologies and materials we use are safe. Before a new chemical substance is introduced, it is analyzed for physical and chemical characteristics, potential health hazards and any associated risks. We also established the Samsung Health Research Institute, a research organization to safeguard healthy working environments, improve employees’ well-being and raise the standard for assessing workplace health and safety.

Semiconductors have been a major precursor to the growth of the IT industry and will continue to inspire innovation in the digital devices of tomorrow. To sustain its edge in the IT landscape, Samsung opened the Device Solutions Research (DSR) center in 2014 to spur collaboration and collective synergy among its semiconductor research and development teams working on numerous projects. The complex is comprised of three 27-story towers and is currently home to more than 10,000 employees.

It is no secret that innovation cannot be done alone. The Samsung-SAP Research Center (SSRC) within DSR is an example of Samsung’s collaborative efforts and open partnerships with a wide spectrum of industry innovators. Shown above is one of SSRC’s test servers, SAP HANA (High-performance Analytic Appliance), for in-memory platform development. With 24TB of memory based on 128GB TSV and NVMe SSDs, as well as hardware/software optimization support, this database server solution has the muscles to test next-generation systems especially for banking, enterprise and national defense.

As we move forward to the fourth industrial wave, Samsung’s semiconductor business continues to push boundaries and looks ahead for the next technological leap that will fundamentally change our way of life and enrich our everyday experiences.