Samsung started mass producing the 10-nanometer class, 8 gigabit DDR4 DRAM chips, the first of this kind produced in the industry to date.
The new DRAM chip uses the latest and smallest semiconductor fabrication process of 10 nanometer, which can help in building faster and more efficient memory. The latter is said to power the future generation of computers, whether they are for personal usage or enterprise-based.
"[The company's] 10nm-class DRAM will enable the highest level of investment efficiency in IT systems, thereby becoming a new growth engine for the global memory industry," said Young-Hyun Jun, the president of Memory Business at Samsung Electronics.
The new DRAM is said to have up to 3,200 Mbps of data transfer support, which is definitely faster than the 20 nm DDR4 DRAM's 2,400 Mbps by more than 30 percent. Moreover, the new modules that are based on the DRAM chips consume less power by 10 to 20 percent compared to the earlier 20 nm version. Samsung said the new DRAM chips will help improve the design efficiency of future HPC systems as well as major enterprise networks.
Nanometers are used in describing semiconductor manufacturing processes wherein a 10 nm version is considered as the latest and hottest technology that is being used today. Apart from the 10 nm's ability to cram more cells within a single die of silicon, it also promises a much faster data transfer rates while consuming less power.
Compared to NAND flash storage that are currently used in SSDs and memory cards, the 10 nm process for DRAM is still on a nascent stage and seemed more difficult to accomplish. While NAND uses a single transistor for every cell, DRAM crams the same cell space with both a transistor and a capacitor with the latter usually positioned on top. The new 10 nm for DRAM currently has 8 million cells, each of which contains a transistor and a capacitor.
By using a proprietary circuit design technology along with quadruple patterning lithography, Samsung was able to successfully create the industry's first 10nm-class cell structure.
Samsung plans to further strengthen its leadership in the ultra-HD smartphone market by launching a 10nm-class mobile DRAM solution that brings high density and speed this year. The company's huge array of 10nm-class DDR4 modules will also pave the way for future notebook PCs and enterprise servers to have capacities of up to 4 GB and 128 GB, respectively.
