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Micron Technology has launched its 1-beta DRAM to improve power efficiency by 15% and bit density by 35% for memory chips.
This means that the Boise, Idaho-based memory chip maker is still one of the industry leaders when it comes to production of semiconductor chipswhich many describe as the oil of the digital age.
This new technology for manufacturing dynamic random access memory (DRAM, or the kind used in most high-end electronics) will support a new generation of memory chips for Micron, said Thy Tran, vice president of DRAM process integration at Micron, in a statement. a press. briefing.
About 81 zettabytes of data were created in 2021, she said. By the way, for perspective, that’s a gigabit of data created every hour for every person on Earth. And by 2025, Micron expects it to double to 180 data bytes, Tran said.
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“We live in a data-hungry universe where data is an integral part of virtually every aspect of our lives,” Tran said. “And these trends don’t seem to be slowing down. The more data we have, the more memory we want to create and get more value from that data. And that gives us the need for more and more memory.”
To make truly autonomous cars, Micron estimates you’ll need about 30 times more DRAM content and 100 times more NAND flash memory, Tran said. That’s why the demand for memory is so insatiable.
Micron said it is shipping qualifying samples of its 1-beta DRAM technology to select smartphone manufacturers and chipset partners, and it is ready for mass production with the world’s most advanced DRAM technology hub. Of course, tech journalists on the press call noted that it’s impossible to verify that Micron’s statements are true, in terms of the most advanced chip process, because it doesn’t reveal the exact dimensions of its chips that can be compared to other manufacturing processes. of chips.
The company is introducing its next-generation process technology on its low-power double data rate 5X (LPDDR5X) mobile memory, with top speeds of 8.5 gigabits (Gb) per second. The node will bring significant benefits in terms of performance, bit density and energy efficiency, which will bring huge market benefits. The company said the new manufacturing node will deliver chips with 15% better power efficiency and 35% bit density improvements compared to the previous generation. The latter means it can hold a lot more electronics in the same space as a previous-generation chip.
Beyond mobile, the “1β” process delivers the low-latency, low-power, high-performance DRAM essential to support highly responsive applications, real-time services, personalization and contextualization of experiences, from intelligent vehicles to data centers.
Micron previously released its previous generation, 1-alpha, in 2021. That suggests Moore’s Law — the prediction made in 1965 by Intel chairman emeritus Gordon Moore that the number of components on a chip would double every few years — still holds. At least for another generation.
“The launch of our 1-beta DRAM represents another leap forward for memory innovation, brought to life by our proprietary multi-patterning lithography combined with advanced process technology and advanced material capabilities,” said Scott DeBoer, executive vice president of technology and products at Micron , in a statement. “By delivering the world’s most advanced DRAM technology with more bits per memory wafer than ever before, this node lays the groundwork to usher in a new generation of data-rich, intelligent and energy-efficient technologies from the edge to the cloud. “
One of the hallmarks of the new chip-making process is that Micron hasn’t yet had to resort to the more expensive extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) to make its chips, Tran said.
This milestone also quickly follows Micron’s shipment of the world’s first 232-layer NAND (flash memory chips) in July, designed to boost performance and areal density, or more bits in a given space, for storage devices.
With these new firsts, Micron continues to set the pace for the market in memory and storage innovations — both made possible by the company’s deep roots in groundbreaking research and development (R&D) and manufacturing process technology, Tran said.
Sampling LPDDR5X, the mobile ecosystem will be the first to reap the significant benefits of 1β DRAM, which will unlock next-generation mobile innovation and advanced smartphone experiences while consuming less power. That means that you will have to look for more powerful smartphones in the coming months.
With the speed and density of 1β, high-bandwidth use cases will become more responsive and smooth during downloads, launches and concurrent use of data-hungry 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) applications, Micron said.
In addition, the 1β-based LPDDR5X not only enhances smartphone camera launch, night mode and portrait mode with speed and clarity, but also enables high-resolution, flicker-free 8K video recording and intuitive in-phone video editing.
The energy savings are also enabled by the implementation of new JEDEC techniques for enhanced dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (eDVFSC) on this 1β-based LPDDR5X.
Micron challenges the laws of physics
Micron’s industry-first 1β node enables higher memory capacity in a smaller footprint – enabling a lower cost per bit of data. DRAM scaling is largely determined by this ability to deliver more and faster memory per square millimeter of semiconductor area, requiring the circuitry to be scaled down to fit billions of memory cells on a chip about the size of a fingernail.
With every process node, the semiconductor industry has been shrinking every year or two for decades; however, as chips have gotten smaller, defining circuit patterns on wafers requires challenging the laws of physics. The layers of material between circuits are now only a few atoms thick.
As the industry has begun to switch to a new tool that uses extreme ultraviolet light to overcome these technical challenges, Micron said it has tapped its proven nanofabrication and lithography capabilities to circumvent this still-emerging technology.
“We did this without using the EUV-based lithography,” Tran said. “By applying our patterning techniques owned by Micron, the multiple patterning techniques, we enable us to implement this technology without deploying the less mature and more expensive tools.”
This requires applying the company’s proprietary, advanced multi-patterning techniques and immersion capabilities to model these minuscule features with the highest precision.
The greater capacity that this reduction provides allows small form factor devices, such as smartphones and IoT devices, to fit more memory into compact footprints.
To achieve its competitive advantage with 1β and 1α, Micron has also aggressively improved its production
excellence, technical capabilities and pioneering R&D in recent years. This accelerated innovation enabled Micron’s unprecedented slant of its 1α node for the first time, a year ahead of its competition, establishing Micron’s leadership in both DRAM and NAND for the first time in company history.
Over the years, Micron has continued to invest billions of dollars in transforming its factories into highly automated, sustainable and AI-powered facilities, the company said. This includes investments in Micron’s plant in Hiroshima, Japan, which will begin mass production of DRAM at 1β.
“Every time we seem to think we can’t squeeze another node out, we make it happen,” Tran said. “It’s really remarkable. With every node with every process note, the semiconductor industry has been shrinking devices every year or two for decades. Our process controls for the critical layers are literally at angstrom levels. And this is where we really literally mean that every angstrom counts.”
An interconnected, sustainable world
As energy-guzzling use cases such as machine-to-machine communication, AI and machine learning take off, energy-efficient technologies are an increasing need for businesses, especially those looking to meet strict sustainability targets and lower operating costs, Micron said. .
Researchers have found that training a single AI model can emit five times as many carbon emissions as an American car, including its production. Furthermore, information and communication technology is already predicted to use 20% of the world’s electricity by 2030.
Micron’s 1β DRAM node provides a versatile foundation for progress in a connected world that requires fast, ubiquitous, energy-efficient memory to fuel digitization, optimization and automation. The high-density, low-power memory fabricated at 1β allows for a more energy-efficient data flow between data-hungry smarts, systems and applications, and more intelligence from edge to cloud.
Over the next year, the company will begin to expand the rest of its portfolio to 1β in embedded, data center, client, consumer, industrial and automotive segments, including graphics memory, high-bandwidth memory and more .
In terms of the peaks and troughs in demand for chips, the company is committed to supply discipline when it comes to dealing with market headwinds, Ross Dermott, vice president of mobile product line management at Micron, said in a news conference.
“We’re really balancing the advance of new technology nodes, like 1-beta, with supply demand and inventory holdings, to maintain discipline. And ultimately in these kinds of market environments, and in general, really, our goal is to make sure that we deliver the best possible product to the end market and deliver as much value as possible to our direct customer and to the end customer.”
In this environment, Micron would rather take a larger percentage of profits than increase its revenue share, Dermott said.
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