SK Hynix 3D DRAM, a big announcement

Latest update time：2024-06-25

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Source: The content is compiled by Semiconductor Industry Watch (ID: icbank) from businesskorea , thank you.

SK Hynix is accelerating its leadership in the cutting-edge field of three-dimensional (3D) DRAM, dubbed “Dream Memory.” The company has already taken a leading position in the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor market with its High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and is now looking to continue its innovation in the next-generation DRAM field.

According to industry insiders on June 23, SK Hynix published a research paper on 3D DRAM at the famous semiconductor conference "VLSI 2024" held in Hawaii, the United States from June 16 to 20.

In this article, SK Hynix reports a manufacturing yield of 56.1% for 3D DRAM stacked in five layers. This means that out of about 1,000 3D DRAMs manufactured on a single test wafer, about 561 viable devices were produced. The experimental 3D DRAM shows similar characteristics to the currently used 2D DRAM, which is also emphasized in the presented data. This is the first time that SK Hynix has disclosed specific numbers and operational characteristics of its 3D DRAM development.

Industry experts believe the filing is an important milestone, indicating that SK Hynix is on the verge of mastering the core technology for next-generation DRAM. Unlike conventional DRAM, which arranges memory cells on a flat surface, 3D DRAM stacks these cells vertically, similar to an apartment building. This allows for a higher density of memory cells in the same space, but there are challenges in technical implementation. Securing the underlying technology could change the DRAM paradigm.

3D DRAM is also a key development area for competitors such as Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology. It is worth noting that Samsung Electronics predicted at the MemCon 2024 exhibition in the United States in March this year that it plans to mass-produce the product around 2030, demonstrating its desire for future technological leadership. At the conference, SK Hynix indirectly expressed its determination to replicate the technological innovation in the HBM field in the 3D DRAM market in response to Samsung's speech.

However, SK Hynix also stated that although 3D DRAM has great potential, a lot of development processes are still needed before commercialization. They pointed out that unlike the stable operation of 2D DRAM, 3D DRAM exhibits unstable performance characteristics and requires stacking 32 to 192 layers of memory cells to achieve widespread use.

Samsung and SK Hynix to apply hybrid bonding to 3D DRAM

South Korean memory chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix are expected to adopt hybrid bonding technology in their upcoming 3D DRAM.

SK Hynix said at the International Memory Symposium 2024 conference held in Seoul last week that it will apply wafer bonding technology in its 3D DRAM production.

Wafer bonding is also called hybrid bonding, where the chips are stacked vertically and connected by through-silicon vias (TSVs) or micro copper wires, and the I/Os are connected directly without bumps.

Depending on how the chips are stacked, they are called wafer-to-wafer, wafer-to-die, and die-to-die.

3D DRAM is a future concept of DRAM where DRAM cells are stacked vertically, just like today's NAND cells are stacked vertically.

Samsung and SK Hynix plan to manufacture cells and peripherals on different wafers and connect them through hybrid bonding.

This must be done because attaching peripherals to the side of the cell layer on the same wafer as existing DRAM would excessively expand the surface area.

Separating peripherals on different wafers makes it easy to increase unit density.

Samsung is also working on 4F Square DRAM and is expected to apply hybrid bonding in its production.

The peripheral wafer will be attached to the bottom, with two memory cell wafers stacked on top of it. The top memory cell wafer will also have I/O pads and multiple layers of metal wiring.

4F Square is a cell array structure that reduces the chip surface area by 30% compared to the currently commercialized 6F Square DRAM.

Reference Links

https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=219741

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