Samsung Electronics adds 11 nano process at its foundry business

Samsung Electronics said Monday it is adding a new 11 nano process(11 LPP·Low Power Plus) in its foundry business. Samsung is trying to strengthen leadership in not only the highest end chips but also mid to higher price chips for smartphones. 

 

11 nano process refers to engraving the memory semiconductor circuit with 11 nanometer thickness. Narrower thickness means that it is engraved in a more meticulous and sophisticated way, which in turn means that more can be stored in the same area. Compared with existing 14 nano process, 11 LPP process can raise efficiency by up to 15 percent and up to 10 percent in chip area with the same consumption power.

As premium smartphones such as the Galaxy Note 8 are embedded with 10 nano level processors, Samsung Electronics plans to offer clients for mid to higher end smartphone processors through the 11 LPP process. 11 LPP process will launch production during the first half of next year.  

 

Samsung is also on its track to develop 7 nano process with extreme ultra violet technology for the first time in the world chip industry for production launch in the latter half of next year. About 200,000 wafers have been used for the development of this process, and thanks to experience gained, the SRAM (256 Mb) yield, which measures the mass production degree of foundry process, has been increased to 80 percent. 

 

"Customer companies will be able to make products with 11 LPP process whose safety is already verified, with upgraded efficiency," said Lee Sang-hyun, head of marketing at the foundry business at Samsung Electronics. "We have completed the roadmap encompassing the 14, 11, 10, 8 nano."

Samsung plans to announce its progress at the "Samsung Foundry Forum" on Friday in Tokyo, Japan.  

Sung-Gyu Kim sunggyu@donga.com