Samsung Electronics “Mass Production of 5th Generation Nano Class 10 DRAMs Next Year”

Samsung Electronics will begin mass production of 5th generation (1b) nano Class 10 DRAMs next year. By reducing the size and improving the performance compared to the current 4th generation, they will consolidate their position as the number 1 in the field of memory. Samsung Electronics will also develop 1000-layer NAND and provide an embedded system semiconductor solution by 2030.

Samsung Electronics unveiled its next-generation semiconductor solution at “Samsung Tech Day 2022” held in San Jose, USA on the 5th (local time).

Samsung Electronics has been showcasing its semiconductor technology roadmap at Tech Day since 2017. This year’s event was held offline for the first time in the past three years since 2019.

During the semiconductor session held in the morning, Samsung Electronics announced that they would be reborn as an integrated fabless solution. They will provide an integrated solution that meets customer needs by converging 900 portfolio technologies, including system-on-chip (SoC), image sensor, and display driver chip (DDI).

Samsung Electronics also develops advanced system semiconductors with performance close to human functions. It is about responding to the era of the 4th industrial revolution that requires super intelligence, super connectivity and super data. To achieve this, the performance of intellectual property (IP) SoCs such as neural processing unit (NPU) and modem must be improved.

They will collaborate with global partners to simultaneously implement an industry-leading central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU). They also plan to develop an ultra-high pixel image sensor close to the human eye and a sensor that detects and implements the five senses.

Yong-in Park, Head of System LSI Business Division of Samsung Electronics (President), said, “In the era of the 4th industrial revolution, where objects need to learn and judge like humans, the importance of semi- system conductors that play the role of the human brain, heart, neural network and vision are bigger than ever. Samsung Electronics will become a fabless integrated solution leading the 4th industrial revolution era by converging key technologies including SoC, image sensor and DDI.

During the afternoon session on memory semiconductors, Samsung Electronics unveiled a roadmap for next-generation products such as DRAM and V-NAND and announced that it will produce in mass of 5th generation (1b) nano Class 10 DRAM next year. The industry estimates that 5th Generation DRAM will be manufactured in an 11-12nm process. Samsung Electronics plans to overcome the limitations of process miniaturization with new processes including High-k Metal Gate (HKMG) and next-generation product structures.

Among the competitors, Micron Technology of the United States announced in May that it would mass-produce 5th generation nano-class 10 DRAM on “Investor Day”. Samsung Electronics should ensure its competitiveness by securing yield and production capacity.

Samsung Electronics also announced its intention to dominate the high-end DRAM market by launching next-generation products such as 32GB DDR5 DRAM for data centers, 8.5Gbps LPDDR5X DRAM for mobile and 36 Gbps GDDR7 DRAM for graphics.

Samsung Electronics also unveiled the 8th Generation V-NAND 512 TLC product, which improved storage bits per unit area by 42% over the 7th Generation at the event. TLC is a storage method that stores three pieces of information in a cell. Samsung Electronics will launch the world’s highest capacity 8th generation V-NAND-based 1TB TLC product this year. They also presented a plan to mass-produce 9th generation V-NAND by 2024 and develop 1000-layer V-NAND by 2030.

Samsung Electronics is expanding the QLC ecosystem with 4 information stores per cell to meet the demand for high-capacity data, including data centers and artificial intelligence (AI). It also improves energy efficiency and contributes to the environmentally friendly management of client companies.

Jung-bae Lee, Head of Memory Business Division of Samsung Electronics (Chairman), said, “The total memory storage capacity created by Samsung Electronics over the past 40 years has exceeded 1 trillion GB, and half of them were created in the last three years. This statistic makes us feel the digital transformation. We will scale with various platforms with high-bandwidth, high-capacity, high-efficiency memory.

Samsung Electronics has also announced its goal of reaching No. 1 in the automotive memory market by 2025. They will provide optimal memory solutions including autonomous driving, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS ) and in-car infotainment (IVI), while providing next-generation solutions that meet the demand for high-performance memory such as LPDDR5X and GDDR7.

Samsung Electronics will open the “Samsung Memory Research Center (SMRC)” for customers to develop and evaluate next-generation memory solutions and cooperate with Red Hat and Google Cloud. Starting in Korea in the 4th quarter of this year, the SMRC will be extended to the United States and other countries in order.

By staff reporter Yun-sub Song (sys@etnews.com)