[뉴스줌인] Lower power, performance and capacity ↑↑, what about Samsung Electronics’ new DDR5?

[IT동아 남시현 기자] Over dozens of press releases come to the IT Dong-A editorial department in a single day. Most of the news is about the launch of a new product or service. Among them, IT Dong-a selects and writes a few of them that may be helpful to readers. However, in the original press release sent by a company, a number of technical terms or proprietary terms used only by the company are likely to be included. For readers who are not familiar with these terms, IT Dong-A has prepared’News Zoom-in’, a planning article that explains the press release.

Source: Samsung Electronics (March 25, 2021)
Title: Samsung Electronics develops industry’s first high-capacity DDR5 memory applied with HKMG process

Summary: Samsung Electronics developed the industry’s first 512GB DDR5 memory module to which the’High-K Metal Gate (HKMG)’ process was applied. The newly developed DDR5 memory is characterized by implementing high performance and low power at the same time by applying a material with a high dielectric constant (K) to the process to prevent leakage current due to the miniaturization of the memory semiconductor process.

Samsung Electronics’ DDR5 memory module to which HKMG is applied reduces power consumption by about 13% compared to the existing process, and is expected to be an optimal solution for applications where power efficiency is important, such as in data centers. In addition, this product is the first general-purpose DRAM product to use 8-stage TSV (Through Silicon Via) technology. According to the expansion of the high-capacity memory market and the spread of data-based applications, Samsung Electronics developed a DDR5 512GB module by applying 8-layer TSV technology based on 16Gb (gigabit).

Commentary: Samsung Electronics’ flagship business’memory semiconductor’ refers to two types of semiconductors: DRAM, which is a core component of a computer and a volatile memory, and NAND flash, which is a nonvolatile memory. DRAM is used to store data temporarily generated while the computer is running, and it is called volatile memory because data is also destroyed when the power is turned off. On the other hand, NAND flash is referred to as nonvolatile memory because data remains even when the power is turned off.

The 512GB DDR5 developed by Samsung Electronics is short for DDR5 SDRAM (double data rate fifth-generation synchronous dynamic random-access memory), a type of DRAM, and is the fifth-generation DDR memory specified by the International Semiconductor Standards Consultative Organization (JEDEC). All. The DDR5 standard has a maximum capacity per chip of 64GB, which is four times higher than that of DDR4, and the maximum bandwidth is 6,400Mbps per second, which is twice that of DDR4. Although speed and capacity have been increased, power consumption is 9% less than that of DDR4, operating at 1.1V.

The DDR5 developed by Samsung Electronics has succeeded in increasing the capacity limit to 512GB by applying the 16GB-based 8-stage TSV (Through Silicon Via) technology. TSV technology is a packaging technology in which a DRAM chip is thinly cut, hundreds of fine holes are drilled, and electrodes vertically penetrating the upper and lower chips are installed. Memory chips are stacked to achieve a large capacity. In addition, it applied the’High-K Metal Gate’ process for the first time in the industry. HKMG is a state-of-the-art process that uses a high dielectric constant metal such as hafnium oxide (HfO2) or oxide ceramic (ZrO2) instead of silicon for a gate that controls the current of a semiconductor.

This time, high-capacity DDR5 memory applied by Samsung Electronics will be supplied first to data centers and industries, not to general users, and is expected to be combined with’Sapphire Rapids’, Intel’s Xeon scalable processor, which is a server processor for Intel.

Written by / IT Donga Nam Sihyeon ([email protected])