Samsung starts production of 3nm chips with GAA tech

Samsung said on Thursday said it has started production of chips using its 3-nanometer (nm) process.

The Korean tech giant’s 3nm process comes with its gate-all-around (GAA) transistor architecture.

TheElec had earlier reported that Samsung was planning to start 3nm chip production for a Chinese chip firm specializing in chips for Bitcoin mining.

The 3nm process is the most advanced so far in terms of microfabrication and Samsung is the first to commercialize GAA technology for contract chip production.

The Korean tech giant said its first batch of 3nm chips was for high-performance computing and it plans to expand its application to mobile SoC.

In GAA, the four sides of the channel are surrounded by the gate; compared to FinFET where three sides are surrounded, data processing speed and power efficiency are improved.

Samsung is also making the channels in the shape of wide sheets, called Nanosheet by the firm, which it calls Multi-Bridge-Channel FET.

The company claims this allows for more precise current control compared to conventional GAA with nanowires.

Samsung said its Gen 1 3nm GAA process offers 45% reduction in power consumption, 23% increase in performance and takes up 16% less area compared to its 5nm process.

Gen 2 3nm GAA process which is being developed will reduce power consumption by 50%, improve performance by 30% and take up 35% less area.