Samsung is developing technology to simulate photolithography, a core semiconductor manufacturing process, using quantum computers. The project aims to drive innovation in chip integration density and yield by mobilizing next-generation information technology (IT). Samsung SDS, the Samsung Group's system integration (SI) affiliate, is leading the research and plans to begin proof of concept (POC) in the second half of this year.
According to the IT industry Monday, Samsung SDS has recently been developing simulation computing algorithms that virtually implement part of the photolithography process using quantum computers. Photolithography refers to the step of drawing fine circuits onto a wafer using light. As the process of creating a blueprint before actual circuits are etched by cutting the wafer, it is considered a key process that determines the quality of the finished semiconductor.
This research uses both quantum computers and classical computers. Samsung SDS performs the core simulation computations with quantum computers and processes the information generated during this process with classical computers. The quantum computer plays the central role of handling large-scale computations without bottlenecks. Artificial intelligence (AI) is deployed to detect and correct errors that occur during quantum computer use at an early stage. The main purpose of the research is to secure faster and more accurate photolithography process simulation design technology by mobilizing various advanced technologies. Samsung SDS has succeeded in securing some algorithms and plans to verify their effectiveness through POC in the second half of the year.
If the technology development succeeds, Samsung will preemptively acquire process-optimization capabilities using next-generation computing resources. Precise simulation is expected to reduce the time and cost required to draw and etch semiconductor patterns.
Samsung SDS does not plan to commercialize the technology as separate software. Accordingly, it is expected to share the technology with Samsung Electronics going forward to improve chip integration density and efficiency. Samsung Electronics has been developing process simulation technology for more than a decade through its Semiconductor Research Center. Within the process development division, the Semiconductor Research Center divides its research units by semiconductor product and process, studying optimization technology tailored to each characteristic.
With this, Samsung Electronics is taking on ultra-fine processing at the angstrom (Å, or one-tenth of a nanometer) level—about one hundred-thousandth the thickness of a hair—going beyond the 2-nanometer (nm, or one-billionth of a meter) process. To overcome the limits of photolithography in the leading-edge 2nm and next-generation 1nm (10 angstrom) processes, Samsung is pursuing a plan to apply quantum computing algorithms to optical proximity correction (OPC), a computer simulation technology. Samsung Electronics' Semiconductor Research Center has independently developed this technology for more than 10 years, but recently the advanced research unit of SI affiliate Samsung SDS joined the OPC research, sharing roles.
OPC is a computer simulation technology that predicts and corrects light distortion in advance so that semiconductor circuit patterns are accurately implemented on the wafer through the photolithography process. The process development division of Samsung Electronics' Semiconductor Research Center operates dedicated OPC teams by product and process, carrying out optimization work suited to each characteristic. In practice, it maintains separate technology development teams by field, including DRAM, NAND flash, logic (computational semiconductors), and foundry (contract semiconductor manufacturing).
As memory and foundry processes become increasingly fine, the importance of OPC is also growing. In particular, the foundry process aims to mass-produce 1.4nm, an angstrom-class node, within four years, beyond the current 2nm. Such next-generation processes implement circuit line widths close to the atomic level, and as line widths become finer, the variables that must be calculated through simulation increase exponentially. Previously, only two or three variables such as light source and lens characteristics needed to be reflected, but in angstrom-class photolithography, at least 20 or more conditions must be calculated simultaneously. For this reason, observers say a "computational bottleneck," in which computation time increases significantly and costs surge, is inevitable.
To solve this, attempts to apply quantum computers to OPC continue. Quantum computers are characterized by computing with qubits instead of bits, the computational unit of classical computers. Unlike bits, which process only one of 0 or 1, qubits have the properties of "quantum superposition," which expresses both states simultaneously, and "quantum entanglement," in which multiple qubits are connected as one. Using these properties, the vast variables that arise in the photolithography process can be computed in parallel rather than processed sequentially, resolving the bottleneck in angstrom-class processes.
Samsung is accelerating research on hybrid algorithms that use quantum computers together with classical computers based on graphics processing units (GPUs). In this approach, the qubits and quantum gates of the quantum computer handle photolithography simulation, which calculates numerous variables simultaneously, while GPUs handle the iterative computation that post-processes the vast data generated in this process. Computation errors occurring in early-stage quantum computers will be supplemented in real time with the latest AI-based error correction technology.
Kim Hyung-jong, a professor in the Department of Intelligent Information Security at Seoul Women's University and vice chairman of the Korea Society for Simulation, explained, "Samsung's research is an attempt to preemptively secure simulation technology combining AI and quantum computing at a time when semiconductor line widths are approaching their limits and uncertainty in the photolithography process is growing." He added, "Since considerable time is needed until the commercialization of quantum computing, at this stage the significance lies more in preempting core original technology and intellectual property (IP) than in securing commercial technology."
This research direction also dovetails with expanded cooperation with Nvidia. Nvidia is currently hiring personnel to be stationed in Korea and handle sales of semiconductor process simulation solutions. These personnel will work with domestic semiconductor companies to identify bottlenecks that arise in the manufacturing process and propose Nvidia GPU-based software tools to resolve them. Samsung plans to continue a "two-track" strategy that combines the use of external solutions such as Nvidia's with securing its own algorithms.
An industry official said, "While it is difficult to completely replace the external EDA tools Samsung has used, securing original technologies such as simulation algorithms in-house has become essential at this point." He added, "This research direction, which brings together the capabilities of affiliates, is a strategic move to maximize Samsung's unique strengths spanning the entire process from design to development and manufacturing, and to expand its unrivaled competitiveness."
