Samsung on Friday broke floor for a brand new semiconductor analysis and improvement advanced which is able to design new fabrication processes for reminiscence and logic, in addition to conduct elementary analysis of next-generation applied sciences and supplies. The corporate plans to take a position KRW 20 trillion ($15 billion) within the new R&D facility by 2028.
To make extra aggressive logic and reminiscence chips, firms like Samsung must innovate throughout many instructions, which incorporates new supplies (for fins, for gates, for contacts, for dielectrics, simply to call a number of), transistor structure, manufacturing applied sciences, and design of precise gadgets. In lots of instances, firms bodily separate elementary analysis and improvement of precise course of applied sciences, however the brand new R&D heart will conduct operations throughout just about all fronts besides system design.
The brand new facility will deal with superior analysis on next-generation transistors and fabrication processes for reminiscence and logic chips in addition to search for brand new applied sciences to ‘overcome the boundaries of semiconductor scaling.’ Basically, this implies researching new supplies and manufacturing strategies in addition to creating precise manufacturing nodes. Given that every one of those R&D operations require massive scale these days, it isn’t notably stunning that it’ll require Samsung to take a position $15 billion within the heart over the following six years.
Spreading elementary analysis and utilized improvement operations throughout completely different areas helps with bringing new expertise onboard (e.g., folks with academia background could also be unwilling to relocate too distant from their present houses), but in addition creates discrepancy inside one firm as suggestions from completely different departments will get slower. Ideally, scientists doing pathfinding and analysis, builders designing new manufacturing nodes, fab engineers, and system builders ought to work collectively on a web site and get suggestions from one another. However whereas Samsung’s new R&D hub is just not meant for this, it should nonetheless convey scientists and node builders collectively, which is a giant deal.
The brand new R&D heart might be positioned at Samsung’s campus close to Giheung, South Korea, and might be occupy round 109,000 m2 (~20 soccer fields). To place the quantity right into a extra related context, Apple’s company headquarters — Apple Park — occupies round 259,000 m2 and homes over 12,000 of staff that do every part from administration to analysis to product improvement.
The brand new R&D facility will work in live performance with Samsung’s current R&D line in Hwaseong (which works on reminiscence, system LSI, and foundry applied sciences) and the corporate’s manufacturing advanced in Pyeongtaek that may produce each DRAM (utilizing 10nm-class applied sciences) and logic chips (utilizing 5nm-class and thinner nodes). It’ll even be Samsung’s 12th semiconductor R&D heart. In the meantime, this would be the firm’s first semiconductor R&D facility of this scale.
Three years in the past Samsung introduced plans to spend KRW 133 trillion ($100 billion at this time, $115 billion in 2019) on semiconductor R&D by 2030. The corporate allotted KRW 73 trillion ($54.6 billion) on R&D operations in South Korea, so investing $15 billion in a single analysis and improvement facility aligns completely with this plan.
“Our new state-of-the-art R&D advanced will turn out to be a hub for innovation the place the perfect analysis expertise from all over the world can come and develop collectively,” mentioned President Kye Hyun Kyung, who additionally heads the Gadget Options (DS) Division. “We anticipate this new starting will lay the muse for sustainable development of our semiconductor enterprise.”
Supply: Samsung
