Samsung Electronic plans to boost capacity in its foundry facility in Pyeongtaek, Korea, to include a line that will be focused on extreme ultraviolent (EUV)-based 5 nm and below process technology.
The new production line will focus on next generation applications such as 5G, high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence. The new foundry line has just started construction and is expected to be in full operation in the second half of 2021.
Samsung said the production facility will expand manufacturing capabilities for sub-5 nm process technology and respond to increasing demands for EUV-based solutions.
Samsung recently added an EUV-dedicated V1 line in its facility in Hwaseong, Korea, which is slated to begin mass production of 5 nm EUV process technology in the second half of 2020. With both of these new EUV lines, Samsung said its foundry presence in this technology will increase significantly.
EUV uses 13.5 nm wavelength light to expose silicon wafers as opposed to conventional argon fluoride (ArF) immersion technologies that are only able to achieve 193 nm wavelengths and require expensive multi-patterning mask sets.
Extreme ultraviolet lithography uses a single mask to create a silicon wafer layer where ArF can require up to four masks to create the same layer. EUV lithography offers increased performance, lower power and smaller area while improving design productivity by reducing multi-patterning complexity.
With the addition to the Pyeongtaek fab, Samsung will have a total of seven foundry production lines in South Korea and the U.S. comprised of six 12 in wafer lines and one 8 in line.
