Seoul, Korea — Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., has started operations at its new Line-16 memory semiconductor fabrication facility, which touts the industry’s largest production capacity. The company also has started to mass produce the industry’s first double data rate-3 (DDR3) DRAM based on 20 nanometer (nm) class process technology, offering improvements to productivity and lower energy consumption.
Samsung made the announcements at its Nano City Complex in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, where the new Line-16 is located.
“The global semiconductor industry is in a period of fierce cyclical volatility, so the opening of this new memory fab and the start of mass production of the world’s first 20nm-class DRAM are important milestones to reinforce Samsung’s industry leadership,” stated Kun-hee Lee, chairman, Samsung Electronics. “We must prepare for an intensifying storm in the semiconductor industry by further enhancing our technological capabilities and expertise in order to maintain our leadership position.”
Investing 12 trillion Korean won (approximately $850 million) in the new 198,000-sq.-meter facility, Samsung began trial production in June and the facility was operational for mass production in August.
Samsung began mass production of 20nm-class NAND flash memory chips in September, with a projected volume of more than 10,000 12-inch wafers monthly. The company plans to ramp up production to meet market demand, and will begin production of more advanced memory semiconductors with high density and performance using 10nm-class process technology next year.
Samsung also announced the industry’s first mass production of 20nm-class 2 gigabit (Gb) “Green” DDR3 DRAM. The 20nm-class solution improves productivity by 50 percent and reduces energy consumption by up to 40 percent, said Samsung.
Samsung plans to develop a new 20nm-class 4Gb DDR3 component by the end of 2011, and will offer mass production of 4 gigabyte (GB), 8GB, 16GB and 32GB DDR3 modules next year.