Samsung Electronics has begun mass production of mobile application processors built using 14nm FinFET process technology.

"Samsung's advanced 14nm FinFET process technology is undoubtedly the most advanced logic process technology in the industry," said Gabsoo Han, Executive VP of Sales & Marketing, System LSI Business, Samsung Electronics. "We expect the production of our 14nm mobile application processor to positively impact the growth of the mobile industry by enabling further performance improvements for cutting-edge smartphones."

When compared to Samsung's 20nm process technology, the newer 14nm FinFET process enables up to 20% faster speed, 35% less power consumption and 30% productivity gains, the company noted. By incorporating a 3D FinFET structure on transistors, Samsung has overcome performance and scaling limitations of the planar structure used in previous 20nm and older processes and gained a significant competitive edge in advanced semiconductors for the mobile industry, the company said.

Samsung began its R&D efforts in FinFET technology in the early 2000s. Starting with a research article presented at IEDM (International Electron Devices Meeting) in 2003, Samsung has continuously made progress and announced its technological achievements in FinFET research and has also filed a pool of key patents in the field, the company indicated.

As for memory, Samsung has been successfully mass producing its proprietary 3D V-NAND products since 2013, the company said. Together with its 3D transistor based FinFET process technology, Samsung claims the company has strengthened its leadership in 3D semiconductors in both memory and logic semiconductors that addresses the current scaling limitations with planar designs.

Samsung's 14nm FinFET process will be adopted by its Exynos 7 Octa, then expanded to other products throughout 2015, according to the company.