Samsung Electronics Secures 5G Wireless Communication Semiconductor Process Technology with 35% Efficiency Increase

Strengthening Foundry Services for 8nm RF Chips for Mobile Communications

Photo by Samsung Electronics

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Samsung Electronics has succeeded in developing an advanced technology in the field of semiconductors for 5th generation (5G) mobile communications used in smartphones and tablet PCs, strengthening its leadership across the entire semiconductor industry.

On the 9th, Samsung Electronics announced that it has developed foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) process technology capable of producing finer 8nm (nanometer; 1nm = one billionth of a meter) based radio frequency (RF) chips and is enhancing its foundry services for 5G mobile communication semiconductors.

RF chips are radio frequency transceiver semiconductors that convert digital signals from modem chips into analog signals to transform them into usable radio frequencies, and conversely convert external signals into digital signals to transmit to the modem chip.

With the advent of 5G, the frequencies, communication standards, and communication methods used have diversified, and mobile devices supporting wireless communication are becoming smaller and lighter. Battery usage time of devices is also increasing. Due to this, demand for RF chips that incorporate more functions within a smaller area while maintaining high power efficiency is rising. According to Samsung Electronics, the newly secured 8nm RF process is a finer process than the previous 14nm, enabling mass production of products with approximately 35% reduced RF chip area and about 35% improved power efficiency.

Currently, in the 5G market, high-frequency bands from sub-6 GHz to millimeter wave (mmWave) are gaining attention. Especially in the United States, where demand for mobile devices is high, mmWave, an ultra-high frequency band above 24 GHz, is being commercialized. Samsung Electronics explained that through the 8nm process technology, it can support all high-frequency bands required by RF foundry customers.

According to market research firm TrendForce, as of the first quarter of this year, Taiwan's TSMC ranked first in the global foundry market with a 55% share, and Samsung Electronics was second with 17%. Among these, Samsung Electronics, TSMC, and U.S.-based GlobalFoundries are competing in the growing RF foundry market.

Samsung Electronics has solidified its position through technological leadership in this field. After starting 28nm 12-inch RF process services in 2015, it became the first in the industry to mass-produce 14nm process-based RF chips in 2017. Since then, it has strengthened competitiveness by shipping over 500 million mobile RF chips, mainly for premium smartphones. In the current 8nm RF process, to overcome limitations such as increased power consumption and performance degradation due to miniaturization, Samsung applied the ‘RF dedicated semiconductor device (RF extremeFET)’ which uses less power while amplifying signals.

Through such ultra-fine process technology, stable mass production systems, and expansion of the foundry ecosystem, Samsung plans to accelerate the achievement of its ‘Semiconductor Vision 2030’ goal to become the world’s number one system semiconductor company by 2030.

Lee Hyung-jin, Master of the Technology Development Office at Samsung Electronics’ Foundry Business Division, said, "Based on cutting-edge RF foundry competitiveness, we will actively respond to the next-generation wireless communication market including 5G."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.