Samsung Electronics demonstrated its foundry technology roadmap at the China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC) held in Shanghai on March 12 disclosing its 7nm process node will be ready for volume production in 2018.

Chipmakers will encounter more challenges when transitioning to sub-10nm process technology, and could struggle to improve yield rates for the node, said Ho-Kyu Kang, VP of Technology at Samsung. The gate-all-around field-effect transistors (GAA FET) technology will be the approach to overcome the issue, according to Kang.

Samsung will adopt the GAA FET structure to develop its 7nm and 5nm process nodes, said Kang. Samsung will also use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography once it achieves a breakthrough in the technology, Kang added.

Samsung's 7nm process will target high-end chip applications such as GPU, artificial intelligence (AI), servers and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), Kang indicated. As for 5nm, the company plans to move the newer node to volume production in 2020, Kang unveiled.

In addition, Samsung is aware of a growing number of China-based fabless firms focusing on IoT applications, Kang noted. Eyeing the huge market potential, Samsung has launched its FD-SOI process technology to provide a low-cost alternative to FinFET technologies, and introduced a 28nm FD-SOI node designed specifically for IoT devices.