Modern-Glass-Building

Samsung and Globalfoundaries to Share Technology

April 19, 2014
With this industry-first alignment of 14nm FinFET production capabilities, we can offer greater choice and flexibility to the world's leading fabless semiconductor companies, while helping the fabless industry to maintain its leadership in the mobile device market, said Globalfoundries CEO Sanjay Jha.

Samsung and Globalfoundaries will collaborate on the 14nmFinFET technology in order to increase both companies’ manufacturing capabilities.

The process, which is based on a technology platform that has already gained a market for high-volume, power-efficient system-on-chip (SoC) designs, was developed by Samsung and will be  licensed to Globalfoundaries.

"This announcement is further proof of the importance of collaboration to enable continued innovation in semiconductor manufacturing," said Globalfoundries CEO Sanjay Jha. "With this industry-first alignment of 14nm FinFET production capabilities, we can offer greater choice and flexibility to the world's leading fabless semiconductor companies, while helping the fabless industry to maintain its leadership in the mobile device market."

The new collaboration will leverage the companies' manufacturing capabilities, with volume production at Samsung's fabs in Hwaseong, Korea and Austin, Texas, as well as Globalfoundaries' fab in Saratoga, New York.

The platform taps the benefits of three-dimensional, fully depleted FinFET transistors to overcome the limitations of planar transistor technology, enabling up to 20% higher speed, 35% less power and 15% area scaling over industry 20nm planar technology, according to Samsung.

The platform is the first FinFET technology in the foundry industry to provide true area scaling from 20nm. The technology features a smaller contacted gate pitch for higher logic packing density and smaller SRAM bitcells to meet the increasing demand for memory content in advanced SoCs, while still leveraging the proven interconnect scheme from 20nm to offer the benefits of FinFET technology with reduced risk and the fastest time-to-market.

Through this multi-year exclusive technology license, process design kits (PDKs) are available now, allowing customers to start designing with models, design rule manuals, and technology files that have been developed based on silicon results from 14nm FinFET test chips.

Mass production for the 14nm FinFET technology will begin at the end of 2014.

About the Author

Adrienne Selko | Senior Editor - MH&L, IW, & EHS Today

Adrienne Selko has written about many topics over the 17 years she has been with Endeavor Business Media and currently focuses on workforce development strategies. Previously Adrienne was in corporate communications at a medical manufacturing company as well as a large regional bank.

She is the author of Do I Have to Wear Garlic Around My Neck? which made the Cleveland Plain Dealer's best sellers list. She is a senior editor at Material Handling & Logistics, EHS Today, and IndustryWeek. 

Editorial Mission Statement:

Manufacturing is the enviable position of creating products, processes, and policies that solve the world’s problems. When the industry stepped up to manufacture what was necessary to combat the pandemic, it revealed its true nature. My goal is to showcase the sector’s ability to address a broad range of workforce issues including technology, training, diversity & inclusion, with a goal of enticing future generations to join this amazing sector.

Why I Find Manufacturing Interesting: 

On my first day working for a company that made medical equipment such as MRIs, I toured the plant floor. On every wall was a photo of a person, mostly children. I asked my supervisor why this was the case and he said that the work we do at this company has saved these people’s lives. “We never forget how important our work is and everyone’s contribution to that.” From that moment on I was hooked on manufacturing.

I have talked with many people in this field who have transformed their own career development to assist others. For example, companies are hiring those with disabilities, those previously incarcerated, and other talent pools that have been underutilized. I have talked with leaders who have brought out the best in their workforce, as well as employees doing their best work while doing good for the world.