Nano

Did you know that in the 1990s, the storage capacity of computers was barely 1 GB? You can’t even fit one HD movie in that storage. Technology has advanced so far that the storage capacity of smartphones is 1 TB, which is 1,000 times 1 GB. How can this much data go inside a semiconductor that’s only the size of a fingernail? It’s all thanks to a higher degree of integration in semiconductors through nano level semiconductor circuit technology. “Integration” refers to when things get stacked, and “degree of integration” refers to how many logic elements (the minimum level circuit that performs logical computations) are inside a semiconductor chip. In order to increase the degree of integration inside a small chip, the line width of a circuit is now within the range of tens of nanometers. As the semiconductor circuits become more fine, we can produce products with higher capacity, higher performance, and higher efficiency on the same surface area. Today, we’re going to learn about “nanometers”, which appear often when explaining ultrafine processes. Nanometers, the fine process unit of semiconductors

“Nano” is derived from the word “nanos”, which means “dwarf” in ancient Greek. How small is a “nanometer”, which is used to measure the line width of semiconductor circuits? If we think about meters (m), which is a commonly used measurement nit, 1 nanometer is 1/1,000,000,000 of a meter. As you can see, a semiconductor is something that deals with incredibly small units that aren’t visible to the naked eye.

A nanometer is only about 1/40,000 of the size of pollen (about 40 μm). Compared to objects that we see in our daily lives, it’s 1/1,000,000 of a grain of sand (about 1mm) or about 1/100,000 of a strand of hair (about 100 μm). Semiconductor process technology has advanced to the range of tens of nanometers. The semiconductor industry is making various efforts to innovate circuit design, implement new processes, etc. in order to overcome the limits of ultrafine technology. Samsung Electronics started operating the dedicated EUV V1 line at their Hwasung campus and is working hard to achieve ultrafine processes. Fine processes that determine semiconductor performance Entering the level of single-digit nano processes means more than simply reducing the process steps. When the chip size gets smaller, more semiconductors can be produced through a wafer (semiconductor raw material) of the same surface area. This will improve productivity, performance, and power efficiency, which are directly related to price competitiveness. The era of autonomous driving and artificial intelligence is impossible without innovations in nano technology. Samsung Electronics has presented a next-generation technology called GAA (Gate-All-Around) in an effort to overcome the limits of ultrafine technology to achieve low-power, high-performance semiconductors that can perform large-scale, high-speed computations with low power. We hope you’ll continue to take an interest in Samsung Electronics’ endeavors toward semiconductor ultrafine technology, which will become an important aspect of competitiveness in future industries!