Samsung Electronics, the South Korea electronics group, has completed development of the technology required to build 4 gigabit semiconductor devices which are expected to lead the next phase of the global semiconductor market in the early 21st century.

Circuit designs drawn using Samsung's 0.13 micron semiconductor circuit processing technology will be only one-eight-hundredth the width of a human hair. The technology, to be used in making prototype 4 gigabit chips, packs 30 per cent more components on a chip than the state-of-the-art 0.18-micron processing technology.

Samsung claims the breakthrough will enable 4 gigabit memory chips to be brought to market at least three years earlier than expected. The chip will be able to store the equivalent of the text contained on 32,000 newspaper pages. www.samsung.com