Samsung reveals Advanced Node roadmap, 1.4nm may arrive by 2027

Samsung expects to have 2nm chips in mass production by 2025 and plans to deliver mass production using a 1.4nm process by 2027.

Dr. Si-young Choi giving his keynote speech during the Samsung Foundry Forum & Safe Forum 2022

Aiming to triple advanced node production by 2027 thru the "Shell-First" strategy

In June 2022, Samsung announced that mass-producing chips using its 3-nm process node, its most advanced technology yet for contract chip production. Allegedly, the optimized 3nm process achieves 45 percent reduced power usage, 23 percent improved performance, and 16 percent smaller surface area compared to the 5nm process.

At the Samsung Foundry Forum & Safe Forum 2022 being held in San Jose this week, President and Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics Dr. Si-young Choi shared the details of the roadmap to a 1.4nm chip. He said,

The technology development goal down to 1.4nm and foundry platforms specialized for each application, together with stable supply through consistent investment are all part of Samsung's strategies to secure customers’ trust and support their success, Realizing every customer's innovations with our partners has been at the core of our foundry service.

The South Korean tech giant laid out a plan to ramp up its production of advanced semiconductors, with a goal to mass-produce 1.4-nm chips by 2027. It is working to meet the demand for state-of-the-art chips for high-performance computing (HPC), AI, 5G, 6G, and automotive applications. 

Aside from that, Samsung plans to expand its production capacity for the advanced nodes by more than three times by 2027 compared with this year. 

According to Dr. Si-young Choi, this can only be achieved through investment and "foundry platforms specialized for each application." He explained that Samsung is adopting a "Shell-First" strategy for its foundry operations going forward. 

This will entail building cleanrooms first, no matter the market conditions, which will then allow for fabrication equipment to be swiftly installed in line with demand at a later date.

Moreover, the company intends to enhance its gate-all-around (GAA)-based 3nm process support for HPC and mobile chips. It also aims to diversify the 4nm process specialized for HPC and automotive applications.

For automotive customers, Samsung is currently shipping embedded non-volatile memory (eNVM) solutions built with 28nm technology. By 2024, the company plans to add 14nm eNVM solutions to the mix, with 8nm eNVM already in the pipeline for the future.

By 2027, Samsung expects non-mobile applications such as HPC, automotive, and 5G applications to make up more than half of its foundry portfolio. 

Source: Samsung