TSMC wins again

Latest update time：2022-02-25

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Recently, the battle for wafer foundry orders between Samsung and TSMC has begun again. According to Korean media reports, the wafer foundry orders for Qualcomm's 4nm flagship processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 were originally handled by Samsung, but there are rumors that Samsung's yield rate is poor, which makes Qualcomm determined to give part of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 orders to TSMC. Sources revealed that the yield rate of Samsung's wafer foundry department in producing Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is only 35%.

It is reported that Qualcomm requested TSMC to deliver Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus ahead of schedule to replace the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. 20,000 pieces of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus produced by TSMC can be shipped in April ahead of schedule. Starting from the third quarter, the production of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus will reach 50,000 pieces per quarter. The 4nm yield rate exceeds 70%, which is much better than Samsung's 4nm process.

In addition, media reports said that TSMC has won all of Apple's 5G RF chip orders, with an annual production capacity of more than 150,000 pieces, using TSMC's most advanced RF process 6nm. Apple's RF receiver was originally outsourced from Qualcomm and manufactured by Samsung using a 14nm process. It seems that Samsung is once again in a dilemma of losing orders.

RF Process of the Four Major Foundries

At a time when the world is short of chips, as a commodity among analog chips, the demand for RF chips is huge, and major wafer foundries have also used their own unique skills and played different roles at different process levels. In particular, the world's top four wafer foundries, in terms of RF chip foundry, TSMC and Samsung both have advanced process technology solutions below 10nm, while UMC and GlobalFoundries focus on mature process technology, competing head-on.

TSMC pushes N6RF

In order to meet customers' demands for high speed, low latency, and a large number of IoT applications in 5G networks, TSMC provides 16nm and 28nm RF components. By increasing the cutoff frequency and maximum oscillation frequency to support RF transceiver design, the 40nm special process is used to enhance the breakdown voltage, supporting the application of RF switch design with the same benefit of reducing the product of on-resistance and off-capacitance.

On this basis, in June 2021, TSMC first released the 6nm RF (N6RF) process at a technical forum, bringing the power consumption, performance, and area advantages of the advanced N6 logic process to 5G radio frequency (RF) and WiFi 6/6e solutions. Compared with the previous generation of 16nm RF technology, the performance of N6RF transistors has increased by more than 16%.

TSMC pointed out that compared with 4G, 5G smartphones require more silicon area and power consumption to support faster wireless data transmission. 5G allows chips to integrate more functions and components. As chip sizes increase, they are competing with batteries for limited space inside smartphones. TSMC said that the N6RF process provides significantly reduced power consumption and area for 5G RF transceivers below 6GHz and in the millimeter wave band, while taking into account the performance, functions and battery life required by consumers, and also enhancing the performance and power efficiency of WiFi 6/6e.

It is reported that TSMC's capital budget will increase the expansion of the 6nm process of Zhongke 15B. The reason is that it has received a large order from Apple for its self-developed RF receiver for 5G use. The annual production capacity exceeds 150,000 pieces, which is expected to be used in Apple's iPhone 15 to be launched in 2023.

Samsung launches 8nm RF process

Almost at the same time as TSMC announced the launch of the N6RF process, in June 2021, Samsung Electronics announced the development of 8nm RF chip process technology, hoping to seize wafer foundry orders in the 5G field.

Samsung has developed a unique 8nm RF-specific architecture called RFextremeFET (RFeFET) that significantly improves RF characteristics while using less power. Compared to 14nm RF, Samsung's RFeFET complements digital PPA scaling and simultaneously restores analog/RF scaling, enabling a high-performance 5G platform. In addition, the new 8nm RF chip can improve efficiency by 35% and reduce area by 35%.

Samsung’s cutting-edge foundry technology is expected to provide a “single-chip solution” specifically for 5G communications that supports multi-channel and multi-antenna chip designs. Samsung’s 8nm RF platform expansion is expected to extend the company’s leadership in the 5G semiconductor market from sub-6GHz to millimeter wave applications.

At present, the order situation of this 8nm RF chip process technology is still unclear. However, Qualcomm has fully embraced Samsung's 7nm RF process, handed over its related chips to Samsung for production, and promised that the order volume will increase.

UMC

UMC has completed the 55nm/40nm/28nm platform for millimeter wave (mmWave) process, which can be applied to mobile devices, Internet of Things, 5G communications, automotive electronics and industrial radar.

In terms of special processes, RFSOI technology can meet the strict requirements of all 4G/5G mobile phones for RF switches. Currently, the 90nm process has entered mass production, and the 55nm process is about to be introduced into mass production. At the same time, we have started to develop a 40nm RFSOI technology platform to meet the subsequent 5G and mmWave market growth needs.

In response to the growing demand for 5G RF switch chips, UMC has developed related processes and has entered the mass production stage. UMC's 12-inch fab 5G RF switch product line has expanded rapidly since shipments began in 2020.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES

For the smart mobile device market, GlobalFoundries announced the launch of a combination of advanced features required for the next generation of 5G and Wi-Fi 6/6e mobile phones and smart devices; GlobalFoundries RF-SOI Sub 6GHz solution includes new features, allowing chip designers to now provide stronger 5G connections and reduce blind spots, thereby increasing call, gaming and streaming time, and longer working time on a single charge; GlobalFoundries FDX-RF solution includes new features to provide more reliable connections and more connected experiences for 5G millimeter wave devices; GlobalFoundries Wi-Fi solutions now include new enhanced RF and power amplification (PA) capabilities, allowing Wi-Fi 6 and 6e chip designers to provide higher performance and more powerful Wi-Fi connections for the next generation of Wi-Fi-enabled products, thereby expanding signal coverage and increasing the number of connections.

Based on the above technological updates, GlobalFoundries and Qualcomm Global Trading PTE. Ltd, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, jointly announced that the two parties will continue their successful cooperation in the RF field and continue to work together to create 5G multi-gigabit RF front-end products, so that the new generation of 5G products can provide the high cellular speeds, excellent coverage and excellent energy efficiency that users expect in a compact form factor.

Process Materials

The above is a brief introduction to the process of RF chip manufacturing by the world's top four foundries. In addition to these processes, technology and materials are also very important. There are many types of process materials used for RF chips. Different foundries will choose corresponding process materials according to their own positioning and process characteristics.

At present, these process materials mainly include: gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), silicon germanium (SiGe), RF CMOS, BiCMOS, and the emerging gallium nitride (GaN).

GaAs is very suitable for high-frequency circuits. The electrical characteristics of GaAs components in terms of high frequency, high power, high efficiency, and low noise index far exceed those of silicon components. Depletion GaAs field-effect transistors (MESFETs) or high electron mobility transistors (HEMT/PHEMTs) can have a power added efficiency (PAE) of 80% under 3 V voltage operation, which is very suitable for the needs of long distance and long communication time in high-tier wireless communications.

Indium phosphide is often used to manufacture high-frequency, high-speed, and high-power microwave devices. In addition, InP-based devices also have advantages in IC and switch applications.

SiGe has good high-frequency characteristics, good material safety, good thermal conductivity, mature process, high integration, and low cost. SiGe can not only directly use the existing 200mm semiconductor wafer process to achieve high integration and create economies of scale, but also has high-speed characteristics comparable to GaAs. With the recent investment of major IDM manufacturers, SiGe technology has gradually improved the problems of low cut-off frequency (fT) and breakdown voltage (Breakdown voltage) and has become increasingly practical.

RF CMOS processes can be divided into two categories: bulk silicon process and SOI (silicon on insulator) process. Since bulk silicon CMOS has a diode effect between the source and drain to the substrate, causing various disadvantages, most experts believe that it is impossible to use this process to make high-power and high-linearity switches. Unlike bulk silicon, RF switches made with SOI process can connect multiple FETs in series to deal with high voltages.

Integrated circuits based on silicon include Si BJT, Si CMOS, and Si BiCMOS, which combines the characteristics of Bipolar and CMOS. Since silicon is the most mature material in the current semiconductor industry, it has great advantages in terms of output and price. At present, the Si BiCMOS process with low noise, fast electron movement speed and high integration is mainly used. The main applications are medium frequency modules or low-level radio frequency modules.

Conclusion

With the development of RF chip applications, the process and process materials will continue to be optimized. Major manufacturers, especially wafer foundries, will have more room to display their technology and the competition will become more intense.

*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.

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