Samsung DRAM a breakthrough

Samsung Electronics said yesterday it has begun mass production of a 4-gigabit, 20-nanometer dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip this month for the first time in the world.“Until now, the miniaturization technology has reached its limit, but Samsung made a breakthrough in further minimizing the size of the chip,” said a spokesman for Samsung Electronics.“Also, the smaller PC RAM means lower power consumption; thus, when smaller ram for mobile phones is developed in the next six months or so, consumers will likely enjoy longer battery life.”The 20-nanometer DRAM has 30 percent better performance compared to the world’s first 25-nanometer DRAM that was developed by Samsung in 2012 and is two times better than a 30-nanometer DRAM chip.A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.Samsung has opened a new chapter in memory technology by beginning to mass produce 4-gigabyte DRAM chips and breaking the limits of miniaturization for 20-nanometer DRAM chip technology with its own technology and existing facilities.During the successful production of 20-nanometer DRAM chips, Samsung’s new advanced double-light exposure photo technology and micro dielectric forming technologies were applied.“The low-power, 20-nanometer DRAM will expand its presence in the PC market and mobile market and become the flagship product,” said Jun Young-hyun, head of the memory business sector of Samsung Electronics. “In the future, we will contribute to the growth of the world’s IT market by launching the next generation of high-capacity DRAM and green memory solutions.”Meanwhile, according to market research firm Gartner, the world’s DRAM memory market is expected to grow more than $2 billion to reach $37.9 billion this year compared to 2013.Samsung plans to continue developing the next-generation 10-nanometer DRAM products, overcoming the technological limits of semiconductor production to lead that market growth.In the case of Samsung’s semiconductor business, its robust and continuous growth has played a major role in offsetting a decline in Samsung Electronics’ sales, according to industry sources.Based on Samsung’s advantage in micro-processing technology and growing worldwide demand for mobile memory chips, the company’s export business has been booming, posting double-digit growth for 12 consecutive months.BY kim jung-yoon [kjy@joongang.co.kr]