Quote:Samsung said that it has completed all process technology development and has started wafer production of the EUV-based 7LPP process in the company’s S3 Fab in Hwaseong, Korea. It noted that the process can be used by its customers to build next-generation 5G, artificial intelligence, datacenter, IoT, automotive, and networking chips.

Unlike the rest of the industry, which for now will be stuck with conventional argon fluoride (ArF) immersion technologies that use 193nm wavelengths and require expensive multi-patterning mask sets, Samsung’s EUV-based 7PP process uses a 13.5nm wavelength to expose silicon. Intel may actually be one of the last companies to adopt EUV lithography in its processes, as the company is expected to adopt the technology only after 2021.

Samsung has been researching EUV lithography since early 2000’s. The fact that it’s taken almost two decades to become practical is why many were skeptical that it would ever become reality.

According to Samsung, the EUV lithography enables the use of a single mask whereas ArF may need up to four masks. On average, Samsung’s 7LPP process should reduce the total number of masks by 20 percent compared to non-EUV processes. This will save Samsung’s customers both money and time.

Beyond lower complexity and better yields, Samsung also promises that its 7nm EUV process will deliver a 40 percent increase in area efficiency with 20 percent higher performance or up to 50 percent lower power consumption compared to its 10nm FinFET process. This seems like a significant improvement in an era when Moore’s Law is already considered dead (or dying).

Quote:According to a new report from a Japanese news source, Nvidia will manufacture its 2020 GPUs using Samsung’s 7nm EUV process. Late last month we also learned that IBM intends to build its 7nm Power processors on the same Samsung process.

Last October, Samsung announced that it started risk production of 7nm EUV chips. The risk production seems to be ahead of schedule as it was initially scheduled to start early 2019.