Samsung Begins Mass Production of 3nm GAA Chips With up to 45% Increased Power Efficiency, 23% Higher Performance, Second-Gen Variant Also in Works

Samsung gains a lead against TSMC and has announced mass production of 3nm GAA chips, bringing a slew of benefits for various applications and products. According to the Korean manufacturer, GAA technology crosses the limits of FinFET and has plans to expand production for smartphone SoCs.

Dr. Siyoung Choi, President and Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics, is proud the announce the new architecture with the following statement.

“Samsung has grown rapidly as we continue to demonstrate leadership in applying next-generation technologies to manufacturing, such as foundry industry’s first High-K Metal Gate, FinFET, as well as EUV. We seek to continue this leadership with the world’s first 3nm process with the MBCFET. We will continue active innovation in competitive technology development and build processes that help expedite achieving maturity of technology.”

Samsung Also Aims to Start Mass Production of Second-Generation 3nm GAA Chips, Bringing Better Power Efficiency and Performance to the Table

Samsung has used a different method to mass produce 3nm GAA chips, which involves using proprietary technology and nanosheets with wider channels. This approach allows higher performance and improved energy efficiency than GAA technologies using nanowires with narrower channels. GAA has optimized design flexibility, allowing Samsung to bring in PPA (Power, Performance, and Area) benefits.

When comparing it to its 5nm process, Samsung claims that its 3nm GAA technology can reduce power consumption by up to 45 percent, improve performance by 23 percent and reduce area by 16 percent. Interestingly enough, Samsung did not mention the differences in improvements when compared to its 4nm process, though the press release does say that a second-generation 3nm GAA manufacturing process is being worked on.

This second-generation process will allow power consumption reduction by up to 50 percent, increase performance by 30 percent and reduce area by 35 percent. Samsung has not commented on the yield percentage of 3nm GAA, but according to what we reported on earlier, things have not improved but have taken a nosedive instead. Apparently, the yield rate is between 10 and 20 percent, whereas Samsung’s 4nm stood at 35 percent.

Qualcomm is said to have made reservations for Samsung’s 3nm GAA node, assuming TSMC runs into its own yield problems for its 3nm process. The Korean manufacturer will likely provide personal trial runs of its cutting-edge technology to Qualcomm and if the latter is pleased, we could see orders switching from TSMC to Samsung for future Snapdragon chipsets.

As for TSMC, it is expected to begin mass production of 3nm chips later this year, with Apple likely getting preferential treatment for its upcoming M2 Pro and M2 Max SoCs intended for a wide range of Macs. Hopefully, Samsung would have significantly improved its own iteration to re-kindle old partnerships.

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