Samsung begins mass production of ultraslim DRAM chip for on-device AI

Samsung Electronics' LPDDR5X DRAM chips (Samsung Electronics)

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip maker by revenue, announced Tuesday it has begun the mass production of the industry’s thinnest 12-nanometer LPDDR5X DRAM chip that helps better thermal control within mobile devices.

The ultraslim DRAM chip, which comes in storage with 12- and 16-gigabytes, would create additional space within mobile devices to facilitate better airflow. This supports easier thermal control, which has become increasingly important, especially for high-performance applications with advanced features, such as on-device artificial intelligence, the company said.

"Samsung’s LPDDR5X DRAM sets a new standard for high-performance on-device AI solutions, offering not only superior LPDDR performance but also advanced thermal management in an ultra-compact package," said Bae Yong-cheol, executive vice president of memory product planning at Samsung Electronics.

"We are committed to continuous innovation through close collaboration with our customers, delivering solutions that meet the future needs of the low-power DRAM market."

By optimizing printed circuit board and epoxy molding compound techniques, the new LPDDR DRAM package is as thin as a fingernail at 0.65 millimeters, the thinnest among existing LPDDR DRAM of 12GB or above, Samsung said.

Making the DRAM package in a 4-stack structure, the company said it reduced the thickness by approximately 9 percent and improved heat resistance by about 21.2 percent compared to the previous generation's product. Samsung’s optimized back-lapping process is also used to minimize the package height.

The chipmaker said it plans to continue expanding the low-power DRAM market by supplying its 0.65mm LPDDR5X DRAM to mobile processor makers as well as mobile device manufacturers.

As demand for high-performance, high-density mobile memory solutions in smaller package sizes continues to grow, the company said it is also planning to develop 6-layer 24GB and 8-layer 32GB modules into the thinnest LPDDR DRAM packages for future devices.

For a device to process on-device AI features without using cloud servers, low-power, high-capacity and high-performing DRAMs such as LPDDR chips are deemed crucial. Samsung Electronics developed the world's first LPDDR DRAM chip with a capacity of 8GB in 2018 and introduced the LPDDR5X DRAM model in 2021.

By Jo He-rim(herim@heraldcorp.com)