Samsung producing industry’s highest density mobile DRAM using 30nm-class technology

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd announced that it started the industry’s first production of four gigabit (Gb), low power double-data-rate 2 (LPDDR2) DRAM using 30 nanometer (nm) class* technology earlier this month. The mobile DRAM chip will help the market to deliver thinner, lighter smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, with longer battery life, at a level unachievable until now.

“Mass production of 4Gb LPDDR2 is a tremendous advancement for the mobile industry, one that will enable our OEM customers to move quickly in launching better differentiated high-performance mobile devices into the market,” said Wanhoon Hong, executive VP, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to take the initiative in accelerating growth of the market by providing high-performance, high-density green memory products as often and as early as possible.”

Samsung developed the 4Gb LPDDR2 DRAM in December of last year and began mass producing it earlier this month. Compared to the previous 40nm-class 2Gb LPDDR2 DRAM, the 30nm-class 4Gb LPDDR2 DRAM increases productivity by 60 percent.

The new chip also combines high performance and energy efficiency. It delivers a data transmission speed of 1,066Mbps, which is more than double that of today’s MDDR, which operates between 333 to 400Mbps.

In addition, the chip enables a thinner, memory solution. When creating a 1GB (8Gb) LPDDR2 package with the previously highest density chips of 2Gb, four chips had to be stacked together. With the new 4Gb LPDDR2, stacking only two chips will achieve the same density, while providing a 20 percent package height reduction from 1.0mm to 0.8mm. It also consumes 25 percent less power.

Samsung plans to produce the 4Gb LPDDR2 chip based 1GB (8Gb) packages beginning this month, and plans to produce 2GB (16Gb) packages consisting of four 4Gb devices next month to accommodate a growing need for high-density mobile DRAM solutions.

Samsung expects that the new 4Gb LPDDR2 based solutions will benefit mobile device makers greatly as they launch competitive products using dual-core processors, which require mobile memory with higher performance and density.

According to iSuppli, shipments of mid to high-end smartphones will increase at about an 18 percent annual rate, from 2009 to 2014. This is expected to lead to dramatic expansion in the use of mobile DRAM, which iSuppli projected will grow at an annual rate of 64 percent during the same period.