Samsung ramps 100-nm process in major DDR2 blitz

SAN JOSE, Calif.--After encountering some hurdles with its new and advanced 100-nm process, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. insists that it has resolved those issues and is mounting a major charge with products based on the technology.

Samsung is shipping its new 512-megabit double data rate 2 (DDR2) SDRAM chip line, based on its new 100-nm process, with a 1-gigabit DDR2 product in the sampling stages, said Tom Quinn, vice president of memory sales and marketing for the company's U.S unit, Samsung Semiconductor Inc., based in San Jose.

Memory chips based on the new 100-nm process are being fabricated in Samsung's 300-mm fab in Hwaseong, South Korea, Quinn said. The new 100-nm process is expected to scale to at least the 65-nm node, enabling Samsung to extend its lead in DRAMs, he said.

"We're shipping," he said. "On the 512-meg memory ramp, I think if you look at it, we have a significant lead in volumes (in the DDR2 market)."

The ramp comes at a critical juncture for OEMs, as analysts predict possible DRAM shortages in the second half of 2004--if not sooner--due to the lack of inherent fab capacity in the market today. "There are shortages today, depending on the device," he said. "We also expect seasonal demand to go up," he said in an interview with Silicon Strategies..

Migration headaches

Samsung has apparently solved its process issues at a time when its competitors are struggling in terms of moving from one node to the other. Recently, the world's top four DRAM makers--Hynix, Infineon, Micron, and Samsung--were struggling with their latest process technologies, causing product constraints and price hikes for double-data-rate (DDR) SDRAMs in the marketplace, according to an analyst from iSuppli Corp.

Hynix, Micron, and Infineon are still struggling with their processes, according to sources. Even mighty Samsung was having problems moving from 0.11- to 0.10-micron geometries, according to iSuppli. Samsung is up and running with its mature 0.11-micron process, but there were yield issues with its 0.10-micron parts.

Samsung moved to a new material, which reportedly caused a delay in production. The company changed its DRAM bit-line metal material from tungsten silicide at 0.11-micron to tungsten at 0.10-micron (see March 4 story)..

Prior to the 100-nm ramp, Samsung had been fabricating its DRAM lines, based on two parallel but separate process technologies. The company had migration paths in both processes. One DRAM process involved the migration from the 130- to the 110-nm node, while the other went from 140- to 120-nm.

To enable the 100-nm node and beyond, Samsung developed a completely new and advanced process technology. The technology will enable the company to develop advanced memory devices, based on 100-nm technology, followed by 90-, 80-, and 65-nm geometries.

"To get to 100-nm, we had to change the materials," Quinn said. "The good news is that the 100-nm process will scale to 65-nm."

The process took much longer than expected to move into production, however. "We did not have an easy time," he said. "We expected to have it a little sooner. Now, those issues are behind us."

Samsung is qualifying its 100-nm 512-Mbit DDR2 devices with customers. It is also sampling the 1-Gbit DDR2 SDRAM device, with shipments due in the second quarter of 2004.

Crossover questions

The crossover point between DDR1 and DDR2 technology remains an issue. Despite Intel Corp.'s considerable push behind the next-generation DRAM technology, DDR2 is unlikely to establish a major presence in the market in 2004, according to iSuppli Corp. The DDR2 transition will be much more difficult than the industry's previous migrations from Extended Data Out (EDO) to SDRAM, and from SDRAM to DDR, iSuppli believes.

Intel's motivation behind promoting DDR2 is to reduce the performance gap between its high-clock-speed microprocessors and the slower-performing memory subsystems, according to the El Segundo, Calif.-based market research firm.

The transition depends upon the timing of the DDR2 chipsets and OEM demand, but Samsung is bullish about the technology. Some 20-to-25 percent of worldwide DRAM bit shipments will involve DDR2 devices by year's end, Quinn said. The first adopters will be the high-end server suppliers, he said. "We know the server guys will ship DDR2," he added.

And in general, DDR2--and DDR2--demand is strong. "We're seeing the recovery. We're starting to see some corporate buying," he said. "Q1 has been outstanding for us. The desktop has been the big driver."