General
Samsung Electronics has announced today that it has started mass production of advanced logic chips utilizing its 14nm Low-Power Plus process on the 2nd generation of its 14nm FinFET process technology. The Exynos 7 Octa processor announced in Q1 last year was built on the industry's first 14nm Low-Power Early process, with this second-generation 14nm LPP process Samsung promises “unparalleled performance and power efficiency” for the Exynos 8 Octa processor as well as many of its foundry customers such as Qualcomm. It mentions that Qualcomm's flagship chip, the Snapdragon 820, will be mass produced using its new 14nm LPP process and will arrive in consumer devices in the first half of 2016.
Samsung’s new 14nm LPP process provides up to 15% higher speed and 15% reduction in power consumption as compared with the 14nm LPE process, the gains have been made through improvements in the transistor structure and process optimization. Scaling limitations are overcome by using fully depleted FinFET transistors to enhance manufacturing capabilities.
