On the recently held "Samsung Foundry Forum 2021", SIYOUNG Choi, the head of Samsung Electronics President and September 2002, the Samsung Electronics President and September, announced the production plan of 3nm / 2nm process, and issued a new 17nm process, strengthen The competition for traditional craft markets. At the same time, TSMC is also actively promoting 3NM / 2NM process, the construction plant and development of 28nm process. With the sustained evolution of Moore's law, Samsung and TSMC have been developed again in the field of wafer foundry.

3 / 2nm process platform into competitive new focus

Because the fade of the core is intensified, the Foundry in the wafer is greatly concerned, especially the next generation of manufacturing techniques of 3 / 2NM are more competitive focus of Samsung, TSMC, Intel and other semiconductor leaders.

At the Foundry Forum in the wafer, Siyoung Choi announced that Samsung Electronics will produce the first 3NM chip in the first half of 2022, and the second generation 3nm chip is expected to be produced in 2023. According to the plan, the 3nm GAA process of Samsung Electronics will use the MBCFET transistor structure, which is reduced by 35% compared to the 5nm process, and the performance is increased by 30% and the power consumption is reduced by 50%. Siyoung Choi talks: "We will improve overall capacity and lead the most advanced technology, and further expand the scale of silicon wafers and continue technological innovation through application."

In contrast, June this year TSMC President Wei Zhejia announced in the 2021 TSMC Technology Forum, 3 nm chip mass production time is 2022 in the second half of the year. Obviously, Samsung hopes to launch a 3nm process earlier to seize the opportunity. In fact, Samsung has plans to measure 3nm process this year. However, the difficulty of steering a new manufacturing technology is very large, so that Samsung has to postpone mass production. However, Samsung postponed mass production plan is still earlier than TSMC.

Samsung and TSMC competition in 2 nm has been more intense. In the wafer Foundry Forum, Siyoung Choi said that Samsung Electronics will introduce a 2nm process based on MBCFET in 2025. According to media reports, TSMC expects a comprehensive quantitative production of 2 nM processes in 2025 to 2026.

Previously, Samsung, IBM and Intel signed a joint development agreement to jointly develop 2nm manufacturing processes. In May of this year, IBM took the lead in the world's first 2nm manufacturing process. Implementation of 333 million transistors per square millimeter per square millimeter, far exceeding the quantity of about 127 million transistors per square millimeter of the three-star 5nm process, greatly enhanced chip performance.

With 5G, high performance computing, artificial intelligence development, the market needs to be higher and higher. 3 / 2nm As the next-generation technology node of advanced technology, 3 / 2NM became the development focus of Samsung and TSMC. Semiconductor experts Mo Great Kang pointed out that due to 2nm currently in the R & D stage, its process indicators are unclear. It is not easy to judge whether it is also a large node. However, according to the process details of TSMC, the 3NM transistor density has reached 250 million / mm2, compared with 5 nm, and the power consumption is 25% ~ 30%, and the function has increased by 10% to 15%. 2 nano as the next generation node, the performance will have a further improvement, and the power consumption will further decline. The market needs to be expected.

17nm new craft, strengthen the traditional process market

In this event, Samsung Electronics also launched 17nm FinFET process technology for the first time. The process is the advanced version of the 28nm process, which is blended with a rear end process of 28 nm Beol, a front end process of a 14nm Feol, a 39% performance than 28 nm process performance, and the power efficiency increased by 49%.

According to Mo Gakoyang, Samsung's new process is to match the 14nmfinfet of the metal coil portion, because the FinFET technology is used, and the product performance is improved, and the rear-end metal connection part uses 28nm technology, while reducing the difficulty while reducing the difficulty Also reduced the lithographic cost. Such a design is very new, or should be called grafting process, separated the front and back process.

What is more worth noting is that the process will be produced for chip-based chip mainly for traditional features, suitable for CIS (contact image sensors), DDI (display driving IC), MCU (microcontroller) and other fields. Currently, TSMC is also actively expanding related capacity. It is reported that TSMC will expand the 28nm production line in the second phase of Kaohsiung New Factory in Taiwan. At the same time, there is news that TSMC is seeking cooperation with Sony, built a 28nm wafer factory in Japan. Earlier, TSMC also disclosed the expansion plan of Nanjing 12-inch wafer factory, which will increase 40,000 pieces of 28 nm production per month, and new capacity will be on the line 2023.

In this regard, experts pointed out that the introduction of Samsung 17nm process means that it is competed with TSMC, which is extension from advanced processes to the characteristics. Siyoung Choi also said that since 2017, Samsung Electronics process has been upgraded each year, while Samsung Electronics Foundry business will enhance the diversification of node process. This process can bring significant cost advantages to our customers to help customers complete the transition from 28 nm to 14nm.