Samsung’s ‘Dream Semiconductor’ to Hit Mass Production in 2028

Samsung is taking a big step in its semiconductor business as it moves deeper into more advanced chip technologies. The company reportedly plans to begin mass production of silicon photonics chips (referred to as dream semiconductor) by 2028. This chip could reshape how advanced computing systems process and transfer data.

Samsung aims to power next-gen AI chips with silicon photonics

According to a report from Hankyung, Samsung has revealed a roadmap for silicon photonics to compete with TSMC. In 2027, the company plans to focus on securing fundamental technology. This includes combining photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and electronic integrated circuits (EICs).

The former converts light into electricity, while the latter controls the flow of electricity, serving as a single semiconductor. This is an important stage because it paves the way for mass production. In 2028, Samsung plans to begin integrating silicon photonics with AI semiconductors. The chips will be placed next to the “switch chips” to gather external information.

Samsung aims to expand the scope of application in 2029. It could comprise silicon photonics in a packaged chip that combines a graphics processing unit (GPU) with High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). As such, data can move more quickly between computing and memory components, improving AI workload performance.

The technological gap between Samsung and the industry leader, TSMC, is around 3 years. As a result, the Korean foundry is adopting a turnkey strategy (a complete semiconductor solution) to stand out in this space. It aims to create an integrated system that adds silicon photonics to HBM, system semiconductors, and advanced packaging.

“The real showdown with TSMC will begin the moment Samsung Electronics applies silicon photonics to actual mass production,” said an industry insider. It will be interesting to see whether the Korean firm’s strategy can attract clients and make solid progress in the global semiconductor industry. Meanwhile, Samsung has reportedly achieved more than 60% yield for its 2nm process, which could improve profitability.