Samsung Foundry today unveiled its latest process technology roadmap at the annual Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) 2023. The company’s SF2 (2 nm class) production node is on track for 2025, while its successor, SF1.4 (1.4 nm class), is on the horizon. Meanwhile, the company announced some of the expected properties of the SF2 manufacturing process.
Samsung’s SF2 process technology will be available to the company’s customers in 2025, offering 25% higher power efficiency (at the same clock and complexity), 12% better performance (at the same power and complexity), and a Compared to the company’s 2nm and 3nm class node SF3, which was first introduced, the area is reduced by 5%. To make SF2 technology more competitive, Samsung plans to provide the node with a portfolio of advanced IPs for integration into chip designs, including LPDDR5x, HBM3P, PCIe Gen6, and 112G SerDes.
Samsung’s SF2 will be followed by SF2P optimized for high-performance computing (HPC) in 2026 and SF2A aimed at automotive applications in 2027. The company plans to start mass production using the SF1 around the same year. 4 (1.4nm class) manufacturing process adopted.
Samsung’s 2nm-class node is expected to launch around the same time as TSMC’s N2 process technology (2nm-class), about a year or more behind Intel’s 20A process.
Samsung also plans to keep advancing its radio frequency technology. The company expects its 5 nm RF process technology to be completed in the first half of his 2025. Compared to the older 14 nm RF process, Samsung’s 5 nm RF is projected to improve power efficiency by 40% and increase transistor density by about 40%. 50%.
Samsung also plans to start producing gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductors in 2025 for a variety of applications, including consumer products, data centers and the automotive sector.
In addition to expanding its technology offering, Samsung Foundry continues to expand its manufacturing capacity in Pyeongtaek, South Korea and Taylor, Texas. Samsung plans to start mass-producing the chips at Line 3 (P3) in Pyeongtaek in the second half of 2023. Construction of Taylor’s new plant is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with operations expected to begin in the second half of 2024. Foundry’s current plan is to increase cleanroom capacity by 7.3 times by 2027 compared to 2021 capacity.
