Samsung has made the smallest 8-Gb DDR4 DRAM chip ever using its 2nd-generation 10-nm (nanometer) manufacturing tech. It said in a Press Release. The chips are 10 and 15 15 % more energy efficient and run 10 % faster than the last generation, launched just 20 months ago. The productivity of chips has risen by up to 30%, meaning that wafer throughput and yield will let it produce more chips at the same time. That should build RAM for your pc cheaper and easier to find in the close to future.
The chip division did not use a new fab process to make the RAM smaller. But rather just added some new tech. Specifically, it is using more efficient error checking and “a unique air spacer” around bit lines that decrease parasitic capacitance caused by the shut proximity of modern chip traces.
Samsung Electronics could be a wildly successful division of the company which generates a big chunk of its profits. It builds the processors for companies like Qualcomm. And also manufacturer DRAM, GDDR5 RAM for graphics cards and non-volatile flash storage. It’s currently manufacturing 10nm components but will shortly move to an 8nm process using roughly the same tech. Manufacturing 7-nanometer parts using ultraviolet lithography will be a trickier step, however.
With 2nd-gen 10nm tech apparently nailed down. And Samsung’s “next generation of DRAM chips and systems will accelerate the fastest introduction plans. Including DDR5, HBM3, LPDDR5, and GDDR6, for use in enterprise servers, mobile devices, supercomputers, HPC systems and high-speed graphics cards,” it says. It’ll also build more of the 1st-gen chips to better fill jammed up supply channels. None of that is good news for rivals like Intel and Toshiba.
