IC foundries are gearing up for mass production of 7nm chips in 2018, as well as production for 7nm process technology using extreme ultraviolet (EUV), according to market observers. Major players in the 7nm foundry segment will be TSMC, Samsung, Globalfoundries and Intel.

In the 10nm FinFET race, Samsung is partnering with Qualcomm to compete against TSMC, which has obtained 10nm chip orders from Apple and MediaTek, said the observers. Nevertheless, like 20nm, 10nm will be a short-lived node as 7nm will be the main battlefield technology, the observers believe.

TSMC disclosed previously its 7nm process will be ready for risk production in the second quarter of 2017, followed by volume production in 2018. The foundry has secured 12 design tape-outs for the process.

TSMC also noted the second generation of its 7nm process using EUV will be ready for volume production in 2019.

Samsung has unveiled plans to enter volume production of 7nm chips in 2018. The Korea-based vendor also introduced its 8LPP (8nm low-power-plus) process that will be its last offering before transitioning to EUV lithography. Samsung's 7LPP will be the company's first EUV-based process technology slated for launch in 2018.

Samsung will also offer 6LPP, 5LPP and 4LPP with the former two nodes ready for risk production in 2019, according to the company.

Globalfoundries recently announced the availability of its 7LP (7nm leading-performance) FinFET semiconductor technology, and expects the first customer products based on the technology to launch in the first half of 2018 with volume production ramping in the second half of 2018. AMD has committed its support.

Globalfoundries has not given an exact time frames for its EUV-based process technology, but said the offering will be available in 2019-20.

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved