Samsung starts mass production of most advanced DRAM chips

Samsung Electronics' 12nm-Class DDR5 DRAM (Samsung Electronics)

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip maker, said Thursday it kicked off the mass production of its 16-gigabit DDR5 DRAM, which utilizes the industry’s most advanced 12 nanometer-class process technology.

Boasting a maximum speed of 7.2 gigabits per second, which translates into speeds that can process two 30 gigabyte UHD movies in about a second, Samsung’s newest DRAM lineup will support a growing list of applications including data centers, artificial intelligence, and next-generation computing, the company said.

“Using differentiated process technology, Samsung's industry-leading 12nm-class DDR5 DRAM delivers outstanding performance and power efficiency,” said Lee Joo-young, executive vice president of DRAM Product and Technology at Samsung Electronics.

“Our latest DRAM reflects our continued commitment to leading the DRAM market, not only with high-performance and high-capacity products that meet computing market demand for large-scale processing, but also by commercializing next-generation solutions that support greater productivity."

Compared to the previous generation, Samsung’s new 12nm-class DDR5 DRAM reduces power consumption by up to 23 percent while enhancing wafer productivity by up to 20 percent, the company said.

With greater power efficiency and productivity, the DRAM will optimize next-generation computing, including artificial intelligence applications, and this will make the new product an ideal solution for global IT companies seeking to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint of their servers and data centers, Samsung added.

According to the tech giant, its development of the 12nm-class process technology was made possible thanks to the use of a new high-kappa material that helps increase cell capacitance.

High capacitance results in a significant electric potential difference in the data signals, which makes it easier to accurately distinguish them, Samsung said. Its efforts to lower operating voltage and reduce noise have also helped deliver the optimal solution, the company added.

Samsung completed its 16-gigabit DDR5 DRAM evaluation for compatibility with AMD last December, and continues to collaborate with global IT companies to drive innovation in the next-generation DRAM market, it said.