By Peter Clarke, Oct. 30, 2018 –
The 7LPP (low-power plus) process is manufactured using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology for wafer production and customers can now work with the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE) partners to produce designs. The partners include Ansys, Arm, Cadence, Mentor, SEMCO, Synopsys and VeriSilicon and they can offer process design kits (PDK), IP cores, reference design flows, packaging and design services.
Compared to 10nm FinFET process, the 7LPP technology delivers up to a 40 percent increase in area efficiency with 20 percent higher performance or up to 50 percent lower power consumption, Samsung claimed.
The initial EUV production has started in Samsung's S3 Fab in Hwaseong, Korea. By 2020, Samsung expects to secure additional capacity with a new EUV line for customers who need high-volume manufacturing for next-generation chip designs.