GlobalFoundries announced FDX Fusion, a 7nm-class FD-SOI process that marks its first major FD-SOI scaling push since abandoning FinFET development around 2018. The node uses planar transistors and fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator technology rather than FinFET or gate-all-around, emphasizing integration and energy efficiency over raw performance. CEA-Leti, a French research partner, called it a "single-digit FD-SOI node" and said it builds on decades of FD-SOI work.
FDX Fusion promises more than twice the transistor density of GlobalFoundries' 2015-era 22FDX process and supports RF transistors with fT/fmax up to 0.5 THz, alongside embedded nonvolatile memory, analog circuitry, and in-memory computing. The pitch is that a single chip can handle sensing, AI inference, control, and wireless communication that might otherwise require multiple dies on different process nodes. The company says BMW, Bosch, Infineon, NXP, Siemens, and Tesla have expressed interest, though only Infineon has specifically confirmed collaboration on 7nm-class radar and wireless-communications technology.
GlobalFoundries plans to deliver initial demo silicon for customer evaluation in early 2027, a first process design kit in mid-2027, and production at its Dresden, Germany, fab in 2028. The company has not disclosed transistor dimensions, metal pitches, or actual density, and its "7nm-class digital performance" claim remains ambiguous. The source notes that the predecessor 12FDX node was announced in 2016 but never adopted commercially, so FDX Fusion may or may not incorporate work from that earlier program. Still, the process could give European chip designers a more locally manufactured advanced node without relying on leading-edge fabs in Asia or the U.S.