SK Hynix Enters Partner Verification Process of its 5th Gen 1β DRAM

[TheLostSwede]

Although DRAM is using much less refined production processes compared to the latest processors and GPUs, all the major manufacturers are continuing to shrink their manufacturing nodes step by step. Part of the reason for this, is that a node shrink doesn't have the same improvements for DRAM as it does for most types of field-effect transistors or FETs, which are mostly used for making processor logic of some kind. SK Hynix is now said to have entered the partner verification process of its 5th gen 1β DRAM, to make sure its latest 1x nm DRAM is compatible with major applications. In SK Hynix's case this should roughly translate to a 12 nm process node.

According to Chosun Media in Korea, Intel will take part in this verification, with Intel having finished verification of SK Hynix's 4th gen 1α DRAM for its 4th gen Xeon Scalable processor. Initially, SK Hynix's 5th gen 1β DRAM will be targeting server applications, so it's likely it will be tested for compatibility with the same platforms from Intel, among others. The new 1β DRAM is said to increase efficiency by more than 40 percent, although the publication didn't mention if this is power efficiency or something else. The 1β DRAM from SK Hynix, as well as Samsung—who announced its 1β DRAM in December 2022—are made using an EUV lithography process and the two Korean DRAM makers are the only two makers of DRAM that are using EUV so far.



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[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Thank you so much for adding the part that says it's roughly 12nm....I've always wondered what these memory manufacturers are actually talking about when they say things like "1β" and about two weeks ago I tried googling and answer to no avail...anyone know why they label it as 1z or 1β and not just use the same descriptors as a foundry like TSMC or Samsung? I get it's a different manufacturing process, a different type of chip, etc, but still....

 

[TheLostSwede]

Thank you so much for adding the part that says it's roughly 12nm....I've always wondered what these memory manufacturers are actually talking about when they say things like "1β" and about two weeks ago I tried googling and answer to no avail...anyone know why they label it as 1z or 1β and not just use the same descriptors as a foundry like TSMC or Samsung? I get it's a different manufacturing process, a different type of chip, etc, but still....

I think they went 1x, 1y, 1z, 1α and now 1β.
It's really just different version of 1x nm nodes, but they don't want to be specific as to the last digit for some silly reason, so we got this crap stuff instead.
A bit like Intel jumping to Ångström, without knowing how to spell it...

 

[thewan]

It's probably part marketing and part competition. Because advancements in DRAM has slowed down a lot, manufacturers switched to generation advancement. Instead of "This year X company has started making 16nm...fast forward end of next year X finally switches to 15nm", It might sound more impressive to say "We have now achieved (name of generation 1alphabetawhatever) Gen 5 DRAM with x and y improvements" after a few years. Also by hiding the "exact" process node by just mentioning the generation name, your rivals cannot tell if one has suddenly made a breakthrough or just made small incremental improvements in their process.

Im basing this on the behavior of Samsung in recent years. They started using numbers again to show that they are confident they have the smallest number and therefore are better than the competition, since the memory industry is in a slump.

Why DRAM is stuck in a 10nm trap – Blocks and Files

DRAM is more expensive and more tricky to manufacture than processor silicon, due to its critical nature. It has to hold data over many logic clock cycles. So it will lag in fabrication processes.

blocksandfiles.com

Also have this excerpt from Micron:

But a funny thing happened a few years ago in the memory world. We stopped talking about exact numbers and started to use terms like 1x, 1y and 1z. For DRAM particularly, the name of the node usually corresponds to the dimension of half of the pitch — the “half-pitch” — of the active area in the memory cell array. As for 1α, you can think of it as the fourth generation of the 10nm class where the half-pitch ranges from 10 to 19nm. As we go from 1x nanometer to 1y, 1z and 1α, this dimension gets smaller and smaller. We started with 1x, but as we continued to shrink and name the next nodes, we hit the end of the roman alphabet. That’s why we switched to the Greek alphabet alpha, beta, gamma and so on.

Inside 1-Alpha DRAM, the world's most advanced DRAM process technology

Micron rose in the rankings from ninth place in 2019 to seventh place in 2020, thanks to the leaders, managers and employees who create a welcoming, inclusive and safe workplace culture.

www.micron.com

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

It's probably part marketing and part competition. Because advancements in DRAM has slowed down a lot, manufacturers switched to generation advancement. Instead of "This year X company has started making 16nm...fast forward end of next year X finally switches to 15nm", It might sound more impressive to say "We have now achieved (name of generation 1alphabetawhatever) Gen 5 DRAM with x and y improvements" after a few years. Also by hiding the "exact" process node by just mentioning the generation name, your rivals cannot tell if one has suddenly made a breakthrough or just made small incremental improvements in their process.

Im basing this on the behavior of Samsung in recent years. They started using numbers again to show that they are confident they have the smallest number and therefore are better than the competition, since the memory industry is in a slump.

Why DRAM is stuck in a 10nm trap – Blocks and Files

DRAM is more expensive and more tricky to manufacture than processor silicon, due to its critical nature. It has to hold data over many logic clock cycles. So it will lag in fabrication processes.

blocksandfiles.com

Also have this excerpt from Micron:

Inside 1-Alpha DRAM, the world's most advanced DRAM process technology

Micron rose in the rankings from ninth place in 2019 to seventh place in 2020, thanks to the leaders, managers and employees who create a welcoming, inclusive and safe workplace culture.

www.micron.com

Thanks for the Info, really helpful.

 

[Wirko]

I think they went 1x, 1y, 1z, 1α and now 1β.
It's really just different version of 1x nm nodes, but they don't want to be specific as to the last digit for some silly reason, so we got this crap stuff instead.

Of course it's silly but still less silly than "5 nm", "3 nm", "2 nm" etc. in logic ICs, note the increasingly large scare quotes.

A bit like Intel jumping to Ångström, without knowing how to spell it...

We know exactly how small one Å is but you're not supposed to ask how small an A is. Thrice as thin as a human hair, or so...

Anyways, I took some available data and calculated that DRAM cells are about 12x as dense as SRAM cells (standard 6-transistor cells) on recent nodes. So the transistors are about 2x as dense. SRAM has the same issue as DRAM, it's unwilling to shrink further, however it remains more dense than logic on same manufacturing node.