"2040: 0.3 Nanometer and 100x AI Leap"… Semiconductor Engineering Society Unveils Korea's Technology Roadmap

'Semiconductor Technology Roadmap Forum' Held on the 11th
Vision Strategy Committee Established for One Year of Work

It is projected that the semiconductor process level must reach 2nm (nanometer, one billionth of a meter) class next year, followed by 1.5nm class in 2028, and 0.3nm class in 2040 to maintain global competitiveness.

On the 11th, the Korean Institute of Semiconductor Engineering held the 'Semiconductor Technology Roadmap Forum' at the Grand InterContinental Parnas Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where it announced the 'Semiconductor Technology Roadmap' containing trends and prospects of South Korea's semiconductor technology 15 years from now. To establish the roadmap, the institute created a Vision Strategy Committee within the organization, which completed the roadmap over the course of a year. The committee chair was Professor Shin Hyun-chul of Kwangwoon University, who is also the senior vice president of the Korean Institute of Semiconductor Engineering.

The Korean Institute of Semiconductor Engineering presented the future of semiconductor technology looking ahead 15 years until 2040, revealing development directions in four major technology fields: ▲ semiconductor devices and processes ▲ artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors ▲ optical interconnect semiconductors ▲ wireless interconnect semiconductors.

In the field of semiconductor device and process technology, transistor technologies such as LGAA (Lateral Gate-All-Around) and CFET (Complementary FET), along with 3D VLSI technology for chips, must be developed as core technologies to achieve process miniaturization. These will maximize semiconductor performance and efficiency. LGAA is a technology that surrounds the current path from all sides to allow the transistor to control current more precisely, while CFET refers to stacking two transistors on top of each other. 3D VLSI is a technology that stacks semiconductors layer by layer to maximize space utilization.

In the AI semiconductor technology field, it is expected that the current performance of processing 10 trillion calculations per second (10 TOPS/W) at 1W power in 2025 will advance to 1000 TOPS/W for training semiconductors and 100 TOPS/W for inference semiconductors by 2040.

In the optical interconnect semiconductor technology field, data transmission speeds are expected to increase from the current 100Gbps/lane to 800Gbps/lane by 2040. Integrating 8 lanes will result in system-to-system connection speeds reaching 6400Gbps.

Performance innovation is also anticipated in the wireless interconnect semiconductor technology field. The current wireless data transmission speed of about 7Gbps is expected to develop to 1000Gbps by 2040 by utilizing millimeter-wave and phased array antenna technologies.

The Korean Institute of Semiconductor Engineering stated, "There have been many forecasts for the short-term semiconductor industry and technology 2 to 3 years from now, as well as medium-term forecasts for 5 to 10 years ahead. However, in South Korea, where the semiconductor industry has become a national industry, long-term forecasts looking 15 years ahead are urgently needed." It added, "From the perspective of workforce development, the time when university students grow into experts and lead the industry is 15 years from now. For their training and vision presentation, long-term technology and industry predictions 15 years ahead are essential."

Starting with this first roadmap announcement, the Korean Institute of Semiconductor Engineering plans to continuously establish and announce semiconductor technology roadmaps to forecast the mid- to long-term development directions of South Korea's semiconductor technology and suggest future directions.

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