Samsung develops 8nm foundry for 5G RF chip

Samsung on Tuesday said it has developed an 8-nanometer (nm) foundry process for RF chips.

RF chip changes the digital signal from the modem chip into analog, converting them to the wireless frequency we can use.

Samsung said its 8nm RF foundry makes the RF chip 35% smaller compared to the 14nm process.

The power efficiency is also improved by 35%. 

Samsung will provide 5G RF chip that supports multi-channel and multi-antenna into one chip, the company said. The chip will support sub-6GHz and mmWave, it added.

The company applied its RF extremeFET process for the 8n process. Samsung applied a special material around the channel of the chip. This allowed electrons to move faster, which reduced the number of transistors on the RF chip.

Samsung began RF foundry service in 2015. It offered 28nm 12-inch wafers. In 2017, the company began offering 14nm.

The South Korean tech giant said it has supplied over 500 million mobile RF chips since 2017.