Samsung delivers its 14nm

Technology News | April 9, 2015

By eeNews Europe

Materials & processes

We at TechInsights thought it worthwhile to take a look at some older Exynos processors to see if there are some common links. So Figures 2 through 5 are package photographs of the Exynos 4412, 5410, 5430 and 5433, respectively.

Figure 1

Samsung Exynos 7420. (Source: Techinsights)

We note that the Exynos 7420 has the label “ALB” beneath the processor part number “N8AZ9MP31”. And this has been speculated as being the Albany airport, and by extension the GlobalFoundries Fab 8 in Saratoga NY. The other devices have the text: ACA for the 4412, ABA for the 5410, AJB for the 5422, BJE for the 5430 and AKD for the 5433.

Now a search of the IATA 3- letter airport codes yields: ACA is Acapulco, ABA is Abakan Russia, AJB non-existent, BJE non-existent, and AKD is Akola India. So with two codes being non-existent and the remaining three being in locations a long way removed from a Samsung foundry, we can safely conclude that the ALB does not refer to a foundry location.

Figure 2

Exynos 4412

Figure 3

Exynos 5422

Figure 4

Exynos 5430

Figure 5

Exynos 5433

The G in the Exynos GXL4928R is also seen in the GKL799X of the 4412, the GFL2349C of the 5422, and the GUF6679M of the Exynos 5433. We think this G refers to the use of SRAM memory in the PoP memory modules, and not a foundry code. We also note that these Exynos processors (4412, 5422, 5430, and 5433) were fabbed long before the 14 nm node, and before GlobalFoundries licensed Samsung’s 14 nm process. So it is unlikely that the G identifies the foundry and by elimination, we think the Exynos 7420 is fabbed by Samsung itself.

The 9.2 mm x 9.3 mm (86 mm²) large Exynos 7420 die is shown in Figure 6. The device is flip-chip bumped to the package substrate and these dark bumps can be seen distributed across the surface of the die.

Figure 6

Exynos 7420 die photograph. (Source: Teardown.com)

Our initial cross section of the 7420 reveals finFET transistors confirming that Samsung is indeed fabricating the device with its 14 nm finFET process. We measure a contacted gate pitch of about 77 nm, which is about 15% smaller than the 90 nm pitch used in their 20 nm node Exynos 5430. The SEM image also shows the gate dielectric and work function metal wrapping around the sides and bottoms of the metal gates consistent with a replacement gate process.

Figure 7

Exynos 7420 finFET transistors

Figure 8

Exynos 7420 finFET transistors

The April 2105 release of the Exynos 7420 marks the first foundry to produce a 14 nm finFET product after Intel’s October 2014 release of its 14 nm 5Y70 Broadwell processor. And this just 7 months after their 20 nm node Exynos 5420 release in September of 2014.

Intel’s traditional one year or more lead on TSMC and Samsung has now been shrunk to about a half-year. A remarkable feat for Samsung.

—Kevin Gibb is the product line manager for Process at TechInsights. As PLM, Dr. Gibb is responsible for the technology coverage, manufacturing processes, and pricing strategies for TechInsights’ semiconductor process open market reports covering state-of-the-art semiconductor devices. Dr. Gibb has a broad knowledge of CMOS, bipolar, III-V, and MEMS technologies gained over nearly 25 years of working in semiconductor consulting firms, manufacturing, and government research laboratories. He has written process analysis reports on hundreds of devices over the past decade and half, spanning: CMOS, memory, MEMS and CMOS image sensors.

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