SK hynix, TSMC join forces to propel next-gen HBM development

[Photo by MK DB]

South Korean chipmaker SK hynix Inc. has partnered with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), global leader in foundry services, to bolster its capabilities in manufacturing next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced packaging technology.

According to SK hynix on Friday, it has signed a memorandum of understanding with TSMC in Taipei, Taiwan, on developing 6th generation HBM4, scheduled for mass production in 2026.

SK hynix supplies HBMs integrated into graphic processing units, crucial components in artificial intelligence (AI) computing, to Nvidia Corp.

“As the global leader in AI memory, we aim to achieve another HBM technology breakthrough through collaboration with TSMC,” SK hynix said.

The two companies emphasized their commitment to delivering outstanding memory performance through collaborative efforts among customers, foundries, and memory technologies.

The partnership, in particular, will concentrate on enhancing the performance of the base die, situated at the bottom of the HBM package.

HBM is manufactured by stacking core dies on top of the base die and vertically connecting them using through-silicon via (TSV) technology. The base die, linked to the GPU, controls HBM.

While SK hynix has produced base dies up to 5th generation HBM (HBM3E) using its own DRAM process, it plans to implement TSMC‘s advanced logic ultra-fine process for their next-gen HBM4 to integrate various system functions.

HBM4 aims to achieve nearly double the speed and capacity performance of HBM3, requiring the base die to perform various functions crucial in system semiconductors, surpassing its traditional role of merely connecting DRAM chips and GPUs.

Manufacturing such base dies with conventional DRAM processes reportedly poses challenges.

SK hynix aims to manufacture customized HBMs meeting diverse customer demands for performance, power efficiency, and more through this collaboration.

The two companies have also agreed to cooperate in combining SK hynix’s HBM and TSMC‘s Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) advanced packaging technology, jointly addressing customer requests related to HBM.

Kim Ju-seon, president of AI infrastructure at SK hynix, noted that the company will ”develop the highest-performance HBM4 and accelerate open collaboration with global customers“ through the TSMC partnership.

Kevin Zhang, Senior Vice President of Business Development at TSMC, also expressed commitment to close collaboration on HBM4 to provide the best products that support AI innovation.