In 2021, Samsung announced that it would build a new semiconductor factory in Taylor, USA. The construction of the plant was supposed to start in the first half of 2022, and the factory was scheduled to be fully operational by 2024. While the construction still hasn’t kicked off yet, the company seems to have started procuring the equipment required for the construction of the new foundry.
According to a new report from TheElec, Samsung started placing orders for ancillary equipment required for the construction of clean rooms in the facility in early Q4 2022. A clean room in a chip foundry is an enclosed area where equipment critical to semiconductor chip manufacturing is installed.
With the help of various air purification and air ventilation equipment, the clean rooms are kept free from dust and any other kind of contamination, as even one speck of dust can disrupt the manufacturing process of semiconductor chips, and that could result in a lower yield of semiconductors. These rooms also have tight control over temperature, humidity, static pressure, outgassing, and other factors.
According to the report from South Korea, the ancillary equipment that Samsung has ordered includes air conditioning units and sealing materials that are installed on the ceiling of clean rooms. The South Korean tech giant seems to be procuring equipment from Shinsung ENG and Wonbang Tech, both of which are based out of South Korea.
The equipment is expected to arrive early next year, and that’s when the construction of the chip foundry is expected to start. At this facility, Samsung will manufacture chips for 5G, high-performance computing (HPC), and artificial intelligence (AI) based on “advanced process technologies.” But Samsung hasn’t revealed the fabrication process (3nm, 5nm, etc.) on which chips will be manufactured.
