SK hynix develops world's first 10-nm DRAM chip

SK hynix's 16 gigabyte DDR5 chip using the sixth generation of the 10 nanometer chipmaking technology (SK hynix)

SK hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip-maker, said Thursday it has developed the industry’s first 16-gigabyte DDR5 chip using its 1c node, the sixth generation of the 10-nanometer process technology.

The success marks the beginning of the extreme scaling to the level closer to 10 nanometers in the memory process technology, according to SK hynix.

SK hynix has become the first in the industry to overcome technological limitations by raising the level of completion in design, thanks to its industry-leading technology for the 1b, the fifth generation of the 10nm process.

To reduce potential errors stemming from the procedure of advancing the process and transfer the advantages of the 1b -- which is widely applauded as the best-performing DRAM -- most efficiently, the company extended the platform of the 1b DRAM to develop the 1c.

The new chip comes with an improvement in cost competitiveness compared to the previous generation and features enhanced productivity by more than 30 percent through technological innovation in design.

The operating speed of the product, expected to be adopted for high-performance data centers, has improved by 11 percent. With power efficiency also improved by more than 9 percent, SK hynix expects the adoption of chips to help data centers reduce electricity costs by up to 30 percent, as the advancement of the artificial intelligence era is leading to an increase in power consumption.

The memory chip-maker said the new product will be ready for mass production within the year to start volume shipments next year.

"We are committed to providing differentiated values to customers by applying the 1c technology -- equipped with the best performance and cost competitiveness -- to our major next-generation products," said Kim Jong-hwan, head of SK hynix's DRAM development.

“We will continue to work toward maintaining the leadership in the DRAM space and our position as the most trusted AI memory solution provider," he added.

While SK hynix has developed the world's first sixth-generation DRAM chip, the ultrafine process competition for global hegemony appears to be heating up.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s No. 1 memory chip-maker, said it will start mass production of the sixth generation of the 10nm process at the end of this year. The announcement came at MemCon held in California in March. It precedes the mass production plan revealed by SK hynix on Thursday.

Samsung also formed a team to accelerate the development of the seventh generation of the 10nm chipmaking technology, according to industry sources.

US-based Micron Technology appears to be falling behind the two Korean memory chip-makers -- Samsung Electronics and SK hynix -- in the race for the sixth and seventh generation of the 10nm process technology, although it was the first firm that developed the fourth generation of the 10nm class.

Micron manufactures DRAM without using extreme ultraviolet equipment up to the 1b process. In contrast, Samsung has secured DRAM manufacturing technology that employs EUV and plans to close the gap with a catch-up strategy, using EUV starting from the 1c process.

Meanwhile, the semiconductor industry expects fierce competition among global chipmakers to continue for a while, as ultrafine processing remains a key indicator of technological prowess.

However, with predictions suggesting that advances in microprocessing may be reaching its limits, some speculate that competition will shift toward hybrid bonding, a method designed to maximize chip integration.

By Jie Ye-eun(yeeun@heraldcorp.com)