Order the brand new: Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Buds FE or Galaxy SmartTag 2023! Smartphone of the year Galaxy S23 Ultra!

SamMobile has affiliate and sponsored partnerships. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn a commission.

Samsung plans to manufacture 1.4nm semiconductor chips by 2027

General
By 

Last updated: October 4th, 2022 at 05:13 UTC+02:00

Samsung Foundry, the world's second-biggest semiconductor chip manufacturing firm, announced during the Samsung Foundry Forum 2022 event that it would keep improving semiconductor chips to be smaller, faster, and more power efficient. To that end, the company announced its plans to manufacture 2nm and 1.4nm chips.

Samsung's second and third-generation 3nm GAA chips feature smaller transistor size, better efficiency

But first, let's talk about the company's 3nm chips. Samsung Foundry started the mass production of the world's first 3nm chips (SF3E) featuring GAA (Gate All Around) technology a couple of months ago. GAA is an overhaul of the basic transistor design, which only happens once a few years. The company promises massive improvements in power efficiency with the help of this technology. Samsung is planning to introduce second-generation 3nm semiconductor chips (SF3) by 2024.

The South Korean firm said its second-generation 3nm chips would have 20% smaller transistors than first-generation 3nm chips. This will result in smaller and more power-efficient chips for smartphones, PCs, cloud servers, and wearables.

Samsung plans to further enhance its 3nm transistor fabrication technology with its SF3P+ process and start mass production by 2025. The company has already proved that it can mass produce GAA chips, and its second and third-generation GAA chips could attract some of the big clients it lost (Apple, AMD, Nvidia, and Qualcomm) to TSMC over the past few years.

Samsung Foundry Roadmap 2019-2027

Samsung Foundry will mass produce 2nm chips in 2025 and 1.4nm chips by 2027

Samsung also announced that it plans to start producing 2nm chips by 2025. This is when the South Korean firm will adopt the backside power delivery for chips. Usually, powering transistors and communicating with them is done only through one side of a semiconductor chip. With the new backside power delivery technology, communication and power delivery are divided into opposite sides of a chip. This improves the overall chip performance. Intel plans to bring a similar feature (PowerVia) to its chips by 2024.

Samsung Foundry also added a new node—1.4nm (SF1.4)—to its semiconductor manufacturing plans. The company plans to start the mass production of 1.4nm chips by 2027. The South Korean firm is yet to reveal what improvements to expect from its 1.4nm chips, but it assures that Moore's Law is still moving, albeit slowly.

The company is also improving 2.5D/3D heterogeneous integration packaging technology. Samsung's 3D packaging X-Cube with micro-bump interconnection will be available in 2024, while bump-less 3D X-Cube will be available in 2026. Samsung also plans to expand chip production capacity by 3x by 2027 compared to 2022.

Samsung is also focusing on automotive and 5G/6G communication markets

The South Korean firm expects 50% of the chip demand to come from automotive, HPC (High-Performance Computing), IoT, and 5G markets. The company will use enhanced 4nm processes to manufacture chips for automotive and HPC segments. It is currently making 28nm eNVM chips for its automotive clients, but it plans to improve that with 14nm eNVM solutions in 2024 and 8nm eNVM solutions in the future.

Samsung is currently making 8nm RF (Radio Frequency) chips for the telecommunications sector and is developing 5nm RF chips that could be launched shortly. The company is also planning “cleanrooms” for its semiconductor factories. These sections will make it easier for the company to store fab equipment and use it later as the demand grows.

General 1.4nm2nm3nmSamsung Foundry

You might also like

Samsung to start making 3nm chips for servers

Samsung to start making 3nm chips for servers

When Samsung Foundry announced last year that it started the mass production and shipments of 3nm chips, it didn't reveal the name of its first client for the latest-generation node. Several reports claimed it was making 3nm ASIC chips for cryptocurrency mining firms. Now, the company seems to have received another client. According to reports, […]

  • By Asif Iqbal Shaik
  • 15 hours ago
Samsung might have a problem as Canon unveils 5nm chip tech

Samsung might have a problem as Canon unveils 5nm chip tech

Samsung Foundry and TSMC are the only firms in the world that can make advanced semiconductor chips using 7nm or better fabrication technologies. Both these firms buy ultra-expensive chip manufacturing equipment from ASML, a Netherlands-based firm that makes EUV lithography systems. However, a new player has now emerged in the chip fabrication equipment space: Canon. […]

  • By Asif Iqbal Shaik
  • 17 hours ago
Samsung might beat TSMC in the 2nm chip race by a few months

Samsung might beat TSMC in the 2nm chip race by a few months

The rivalry between TSMC and Samsung is never-ending. And right now, the Korean tech giant appears to have a leg up over its competitor in next-gen manufacturing technologies. Reports say that the economic climate has affected TSMC's original plans for 2nm-based production, which means Samsung could beat its rival to the punch. Samsung might become […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 17 hours ago
Samsung will dive deep into large language models at AI Forum 2023

Samsung will dive deep into large language models at AI Forum 2023

Samsung has put a date on its AI-centric convention for 2023. Today, the company announced that Samsung AI Forum 2023 – a yearly event hosted by SAIT (Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology) – will be held at the Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, on November 7. This year's forum will begin with an introduction […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 5 days ago
Samsung reports low profits for Q3 2023 as semiconductor chip losses narrow

Samsung reports low profits for Q3 2023 as semiconductor chip losses narrow

Samsung has been going through tough times due to the downturn of the semiconductor chip segment, leading to huge losses for the company. However, it looks like the company is recovering from that downturn and narrowing losses in its semiconductor chip business. Samsung has reported earnings guidance for Q3 2023, revealing better-than-expected results. Its profits […]

  • By Asif Iqbal Shaik
  • 6 days ago
Samsung Foundry will make 4nm AI chips for Rebellions

Samsung Foundry will make 4nm AI chips for Rebellions

Samsung, one of the world's leading semiconductor foundries, will make AI chips for Rebellions. Rebellions is a South Korean AI semiconductor startup, and its partnership with Samsung Foundry is crucial for the local semiconductor segment as it will boost the country's importance on the world stage. Rebellions' next-gen AI semiconductor chip will be made using […]

  • By Asif Iqbal Shaik
  • 1 week ago