Samsung begins output of 1-gigabit chip

Samsung Electronics Co. opened a new era in the semiconductor industry by beginning mass production of a 1-gigabit memory chip yesterday in its plant in Hwaseong-gun, Gyeonggi province, for the first time anywhere. The chip has a capacity four times larger than that of the mainstream 256-megabit memory chip. The 1-gigabit double date rate synchronus dynamic random access memory chip is produced on a 300-millimeter (11.8 inch) wafer, the piece of silicon that is cut up to form the base for the microchip. Mass production began seven months after the company introduced its sample for the first time around the world. A Samsung official said the company is one full year ahead of its rivals such as Micron Technology Inc. in 1-gigabit memory chip production. Samsung is utilizing 0.10-micron process technology in the production -- 1 micron equals one millionth of a meter. The measurement represents the smallest gap that exists between objects on a memory chip’s surface. The production based on a 300-millimeter wafer and the 0.10-micron technology improves productivity, the company said. Thirty-six memory chips are mounted to comprise a 4-gigabyte registered module, the highest capacity available for servers. Samsung said the module can store 260,000 pages of English-language newspaper text and an eight-hour equivalent of video images. “As Samsung has already won validation from Intel Corp., it will have the upper hand in the 1-gigabit memory chip market, which is expected to take off next year,” Samsung said in a press release. That market is estimated to be $90 million this year and is expected to grow to $2 billion next year, and to $12 billion in 2007. Samsung said the 1-gigabit memory chip would account for half the memory chip market in 2007. Mass production of the next generation 4-gigabit memory chip is expected to begin in 2006. Samsung’s 300-millimeter wafer production began in October 2000. The company said it could set the lead by mass-producing the full lineup of 256-megabit, 512-megabit and 1-gigabit chips on 0.10-micron circuit geometry in both 200-millimeter and 300-millimeter wafer production lines. The 300-millimeter wafer offers 225 percent of the normal silicon surface area on the 200-millimeter wafer most widely used in semiconductor plants. by Limb Jae-un