Samsung unveils plans to strengthen foundry ecosystem

[Courtesy of Samsung Electronics Co.]

Samsung Electronics Co. revealed its plans to strengthen the South Korean foundry ecosystem at a foundry forum, which it will do by nurturing domestic fabless companies to enhance competitiveness and secure an industry-leading position.

At the Samsung Foundry Forum and Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem Forum 2024 in Seoul on Tuesday, whose theme was artificial intelligence (AI), Samsung Electronics showcased its foundry process technologies, manufacturing capabilities, and system semiconductor solutions.

The company emphasized its commitment to supporting the foundry ecosystem as it aims to empower fabless companies in the high-performance computing (HPC) and AI fields, which it will achieve by expanding the multi-project wafer (MPW) service to produce prototypes. MPWs place various designs on a single wafer, reducing costs and improving product quality.

Samsung has increased MPW services by 10 percent to 32 sessions in 2024, with plans to expand the service to 35 sessions the year after. An additional MPW service session for the 4-nanometer process will be introduced in 2025 due to high demand from fabless companies and design solution partners (DSPs).

Samsung also announced plans to mass-produce 2-nm AI accelerator semiconductors. In collaboration with Korean DSP Gaonchips Co., Samsung will produce 2-nm chips for Japan’s Preferred Networks Inc. The DSP will provide services such as circuit analysis and error correction to facilitate the manufacturing of semiconductors designed by fabless companies. Samsung expects synergy from its turnkey solution, packaging, and gate-all-around (GAA) technology for the project.

The turnkey solution incorporates the 2.5D package I-Cube S technology. “Heterogeneous integration packaging places multiple chips in one package, increasing transmission speed while reducing area,” the company said. The technology also features ultra-fine wiring to ensure stable power supply.

“We are supporting various process technologies in addition to advanced processes to cooperate with fabless companies,” Choi Si-young, who heads Samsung’s foundry business, said. Highlighting the commencement of mass production for the third-generation GAA 2-nm process as scheduled, Choi emphasized that Samsung is “the only company worldwide that integrates foundry, memory, and packaging.”