Samsung is constructing a new semiconductor factory in Taylor, Texas. Announced last year, the company plans to invest a whopping $17 billion in this facility, which will be its second chip plant in the US. Works on the site began earlier this year, with the factory expected to be fully operational by 2024. It appears Samsung has almost completed the foundation work. According to the Korean media, the company has started preparations for building clean rooms at the site.
Clean rooms are pretty much self-explanatory. These are enclosed areas free from dust and any other pollution. Even the temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure in these rooms are manually controlled to ensure optimal conditions. This is because just one speck of dust or unstable environmental conditions can affect the yield rate of semiconductors. It is critical for the clean rooms to be clean and have tight control over other parameters for efficient semiconductor manufacturing.
It reportedly takes about a year to build a fully operational clean room. Samsung plans to begin the construction of clean rooms at its Taylor factory early next year. Ahead of that, the company has begun procuring the equipment and materials required for it. The Korean behemoth has placed orders for auxiliary equipment such as ACs (air conditioners) and sealing materials for the ceiling of the clean rooms. Domestic firms Shinsung ENG and Wonbang Tech are supplying these materials, The Elec reports.
Clean rooms also require a fan filter unit (FFU), which is a motorized air filtering equipment that supplies purified air. Samsung will reportedly place orders for it in the first half of next year, probably after the construction is underway. If things go as per plan, the Korean behemoth could start installing the semiconductor manufacturing equipment towards the end of 2023, or in early 2024. We could see it turning out semiconductors from the Taylor factory a couple of years from now.
Samsung will manufacture advanced semiconductor chips in the Taylor, Texas factory
Samsung’s upcoming semiconductor factory in Taylor will produce advanced logic semiconductor solutions. The company says it will manufacture 5nm or smaller chips for 5G, high-performance computing (HPC), and artificial intelligence (AI) applications here. It has already started manufacturing 3nm chips in its South Korean factories and is planning to introduce 2nm semiconductors in 2025. The under-construction factory in Taylor could also produce 2nm chips. There’s still a long way to go, though. Samsung has only recently begun foundation work at the site.
2022-12-14 15:20:03