Samsung 7nm process on track for volume production in 2018

At the China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC) in Shanghai on March 12, Samsung Electronics announced its 7nm process node is on track for volume production in 2018 and that 5nm volume production is expected to arrive in 2020.

The company said it will use the GAA FET structure for 7nm and 5nm, and that it will adopt EUV as soon as it achieves a breakthrough in the technology.

Chipmakers will encounter more challenges when transitioning to sub-10nm process technology, and could struggle to improve yield rates for the node, said Ho-Kyu Kang, VP of Technology at Samsung. The gate-all-around field-effect transistors (GAA FET) technology will be the approach to overcome the issue, according to Kang.

Samsung will adopt the GAA FET structure to develop its 7nm and 5nm process nodes, said Kang. Samsung will also use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography once it achieves a breakthrough in the technology, Kang added.

Samsung's 7nm process is aimed at high-end applications like GPUs, AI chips, server processors and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).