• Industry’s first 321-high NAND of 1Tb developed for supply in 1H25
• “Three Plugs” process technology leads to technological breakthrough for stacking, improves speed, power efficiency
• Company on track to becoming “Full Stack AI Memory Provider” with enhanced competitiveness in AI storage

Seoul, November 21, 2024

SK hynix Inc. (or “the company”, www.skhynix.com) announced today that it has started mass production of the world’s first triple level cell¹-based 321-high 4D NAND Flash with 1Tb capacity.

¹NAND Flash products are categorized into single-, multi-, triple-, quadruple-, and penta-level cells, depending on the number of the information in the format of bit unit is stored in a cell. A bigger number of information stored means more data can be stored in the same space.

Following its previous record as the industry’s first provider of the world’s highest 238-layer NAND since June last year, SK hynix has become the world’s first supplier of the NAND with more than 300 layers by finding a technological breakthrough for stacking. The company plans to provide the 321-high products to customers from the first half of next year.

Stacking more than 300 layers came into reality as the company successfully adopted the “3 plugs²” process technology. Known for an excellent production efficiency, the process electrically connects three plugs through an optimized follow-up process after three times of plug processes are finished. For the process, SK hynix developed a low-stress³ material, while introducing the technology that automatically corrects alignments among the plugs.

²Plug: a vertical hole through layers of substrates aimed at creating cells at once
³Low Stress: Preventing wafer warpage by changing the material into the plugs

With the adoption of the same development platform from the 238-high NAND on the 321-high product, the company could also improve the productivity by 59%, compared with the previous generation, by minimizing any impacts from a process switch.

The latest product comes with an improvement of 12% in data transfer speed and 13% in reading performance, compared with the previous generation. It also enhances data reading power efficiency by more than 10%.

SK hynix plans to steadily expand the use of the 321-high products by providing them to the nascent AI applications, which require low power and high performance.

Jungdal Choi, Head of NAND Development at SK hynix, said that the latest development brings the company a step closer to the leadership of the AI storage market represented by SSD for AI data centers and on-device AI. “SK hynix is on track to advancing to the Full Stack AI Memory Provider by adding a perfect portfolio in the ultra-high performance NAND space on top of the DRAM business led by HBM.”

About SK hynix Inc.

SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world’s top tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (“DRAM”), flash memory chips (“NAND flash”) and CMOS Image Sensors (“CIS”) for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.

Media Contact

SK hynix Inc.
Global Public Relations

Technical Leader
Kanga Kong
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

Technical Leader
Sooyeon Lee
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

The post SK hynix Starts Mass Production of World’s First 321-High NAND first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

• SK hynix unveils development progress of world’s first NAND with more than 300 layers at FMS 2023
• Next-generation NAND solutions such as PCIe 5th Gen, UFS 4.0 also unveiled
• “Innovation to continue for development of high-performance NAND for AI era”

Seoul, August 9, 2023

SK hynix Inc. (or “the company”, www.skhynix.com) showcased today the sample of the 321-layer 4D NAND, making public the progress on its development of the industry’s first NAND with more than 300 layers.

The company gave a presentation on the progress on the development of its 321-layer 1Tb TLC¹ 4D NAND Flash and displayed the samples at the Flash Memory Summit (FMS) 2023² taking place Aug. 8-10 in Santa Clara.

¹Triple Level Cell (TLC): NAND Flash products are categorized into single, multi, triple, quadruple and penta level cells depending on the number of information (in bit unit) contained in a single cell. That a cell contains more information means more data can be stored within the same extent of area.

²Flash Memory Summit (FMS): the biggest annual conference for NAND Flash industry

SK hynix is the first in the industry to unveil the progress on the development of a NAND with more than 300 layers in detail. The company plans to raise the level of completion of the 321-layer product and start mass production from the first half of 2025.

The company said its technological competitiveness accumulated from the success of the world’s highest 238-layer NAND, already in mass production, paved the way for a smooth progress for the development of the 321-layer product. “With another breakthrough to address stacking limitations, SK hynix will open the era of NAND with more than 300 layers and lead the market.”

The 321-layer 1Tb TLC NAND comes with a 59% improvement in productivity, compared with the earlier generation of 238-layer 512Gb, thanks to the technology development that enabled stacking of more cells and larger storage capacity on a single chip, meaning the total capacity that can be produced on a single wafer increased.

Since the introduction of ChatGPT that accelerated the growth of the generative AI market, demand for high-performance and high-capacity memory products that can process more data at a faster pace is growing rapidly.

Accordingly, at the FMS, SK hynix also introduced next-generation NAND solutions optimized for such AI demand, including the enterprise SSD adopting the PCIe Gen5 interface and UFS 4.0.

The company expects these products to achieve industry-leading performance to fully meet the needs of the customers with a focus on high performance.

SK hynix also announced that it has started development of the next-generation PCIe Gen6 and UFS 5.0 with the improved technology for solution development that it acquired through these products and expressed its commitment to leading the industry trend.

Jungdal Choi, Head of NAND Development, said during a keynote speech that the company expects the ongoing development of the 321-layer product, the fifth generation of the 4D NAND, to help the company solidify its technological leadership in the NAND space. “With timely introduction of the high-performance and high-capacity NAND, we will strive to meet the requirements of the AI era and continue to lead innovation.”

About SK hynix Inc.

SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world’s top tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (“DRAM”), flash memory chips (“NAND flash”) and CMOS Image Sensors (“CIS”) for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.

Media Contact

SK hynix Inc.
Global Public Relations

Technical Leader
Kanga Kong
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

Technical Leader
Joori Roh
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

The post SK hynix Showcases Samples of World’s First 321-Layer NAND first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

• Obtains internationally-recognized ASPICE Level 2 Certification through collaboration with Siemens
• Aims to meet growing demand from automotive chip market, improve profitability with NAND solutions globally recognized

Seoul, June 20, 2023

SK hynix Inc. (or “the company”, www.skhynix.com) announced today that it has received the automotive ASPICE¹ Level 2 certification, marking the first case that a Korean semiconductor company wins the recognition.

¹ASPICE (Automotive Software Process Improvement & Capability dEtermination): A guideline for automotive software development that was introduced by European carmakers to evaluate reliability and capabilities of a auto part supplier.

The certification, essential for automotive NAND solution products, is expected to lead to an increased supply and stronger profitability of the company’s NAND solution products such as Universal Flash Memory and Solid State Drive, of which combined market is expected to grow by more than an average 20% every year, the company said.

With introduction and adoption of electric vehicles and autonomous driving system, the importance of technology in the areas of electric and electronic parts of vehicles is also growing.

Particularly, with systems for Advanced Driver Assistance System and Infotainment getting more sophisticated, the importance of software quality management as well as compatibility and stability is growing, requiring auto part suppliers to obtain the ASPICE Level 2 or the equivalent.

To win the certification, SK hynix combined its digital transformation technology with Siemens’ certification solution, which helped result in optimization and success of a stable and efficient system for the overall research and development process ranging from design of software for vehicles and engineering of products to workflow.

The latest achievement follows obtainment of an ISO 26262: 2018 FSM(Functional Safety Management²) in November 2021 as SK hynix continues to deliver accomplishments in the automotive memory business with commitment to safety and reliability.

² ISO 26262: 2018 FSM (Functional Safety Management): An international standard for functional safety in automotive semiconductors set by the International Organization for Standardization.

SK hynix will now aim for the ASPICE Level 3 certification with a more advanced software development process.

“Our achievement comes at a time when product competitiveness of automotive memory solution is more important than ever,” Ahn Hyun, head of solution development, said. “We will aim higher and continue our efforts for development and stronger product competitiveness of automotive memory chips.”

About SK hynix Inc.

SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world’s top tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (“DRAM”), flash memory chips (“NAND flash”) and CMOS Image Sensors (“CIS”) for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.

Media Contact

SK hynix Inc.
Global Public Relations

Technical Leader
Kanga Kong
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

Technical Leader
Joori Roh
E-Mail: global_newsroom@skhynix.com

The post SK hynix Receives International Certification for Automotive Memory Solution Development first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

Many people are familiar with semiconductor memory, such as DRAM and NAND, both flagship products of SK hynix, but perhaps not so much with memory solution technology.

In this latest EE Times column, SK hynix’s head of SoC Junhyun Chun discusses NAND and DRAM solutions, their importance, and how SK hynix is developing differentiated memory solution technology to gain a competitive advantage.

NAND memory provides high-capacity storage space and does not lose data even if the power is turned off. It does, however, have some weaknesses such as larger units of read/write operation memory, slower speeds, and limited rewrite cycles.

These limitations can be mitigated with a NAND solution, which plays a crucial role in ensuring NAND memory operates as a product that is usable and efficient.

Meanwhile, DRAM is used to store the programs and data needed for processors to operate. Unlike NAND, it did not require a dedicated solution. But as the need for high-capacity DRAM increases, DRAM solutions, which are relatively new in the market, are becoming increasingly important.

For this, CXL (Compute Express Link) has emerged as a new standardized interface, and SK hynix, among others, launched a consortium in 2019 to prepare for CXL’s commercialization. In particular, SK hynix has developed a DDR5-based CXL solution and is collaborating with major partners worldwide to expand the CXL memory ecosystem.

Read Junhyun Chun’s article in full here: How SK hynix’s Memory Solution Technology Gives It an Edge in the Market

The post How SK hynix’s Memory Solution Technology Gives It an Edge in the Market first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

Image Download

If you’ve ever owned a digital music player, loaded saved progress on a gaming console, or used a smartphone—you’ve used flash storage. Each of these devices, plus countless others, have the same dependable memory tech at their core.

As the name suggests, flash storage runs extremely fast; it also retains information when a device is powered off and is easily rewriteable. As our devices become smarter and generate more data, fast and flexible memory solutions are in high demand. Set to be the next “big thing” in storage, let’s take a closer look at the ever-evolving, advanced semiconductor memory solution.

Great Things Come in Small Packages

Once considered quite the splurge, flash storage, including both NAND and NOR-based solutions, revolutionized not only the way we live but also how our devices operate. The real tech breakthrough facilitated by flash was the ability to store massive volumes of data in a tiny chip, reducing the size restrictions imposed by earlier storage components.

Recognizing the opportunity early on, SK hynix has been able to bolster its technological leadership by delivering the world’s first NAND flash solutions time and time again. Innovating smaller, faster, and lower energy-consuming storage components solidifies the company’s prime position in the market and provides meaningful solutions for the technological demands and environmentally conscious agendas of the ever-expanding tech sector.

SK hynix’s 176-layer NAND flash increases bit productivity by 35% compared to previous generation

Image Download

Each evolution of NAND flash memory has increased storage capacity through the formation of smaller active and gate using lateral scaling. Now developing 4D-NAND, SK hynix hi-gineers formed a peripheral circuit under the 3D-NAND cell, maximizing the chip’s storage capacity and lowering the cost. SK hynix premiered the world’s first 176-layer 4D NAND flash, the third generation of NAND flash product securing the industry’s best number of chips per wafer. This increasingly multi-layered technology supports the development of higher-capacity mobile devices such as terabyte-boasting smartphones and laptop computers with incredible storage capabilities.

More than a “Flash” in the Pan

Increasing the storage capacity of our devices is critical to continue to evolve technology in a manner that meets the needs of today’s society. In response to the recent pandemic, society has become increasingly dependent on digital technology. Retreating to our homes, transitioning to remote work, and relying on digital means to stay connected created a need for smart digital solutions capable of managing data volumes considerably larger than any other time in recent history.

Volume of data/information created, captured, copied, and consumed worldwide from 2010 to 2025

The volume of data globally grew by more than 56% at the onset of the pandemic

Image Download

Increased demand for data centers and cloud-based server solutions has been mirrored by increased demand for efficient NAND flash solutions. The applications for NAND flash are also becoming more diverse. The list of possible uses is growing in step with demand; the technology is appearing in more than just mobile devices but enterprise SSDs and automotive technology too.

Flash-Forward to the Future

To truly harness the potential of NAND flash, the industry needs to improve materials and design structures, anticipating the next technical evolution of flash memory. One of SK hynix’s main areas of focus is securing etching technology able to realize the high-density requirements of the industry to capture opportunities like replacing HDDs in data centers with SSDs. It is predicted that it will be possible to stack over 600 layers of NAND in the future, making the application of flash virtually limitless.

SK hynix innovates for a greener future by optimizing technology through the lens of social value

Image Download

In addition to rising technological challenges and demands, the industry now faces a new mission of responding to social and environmental concerns, including its consumption of energy and other essential resources. Advancing both the technology and its production methods can lower the industry’s carbon footprint and build a more sustainable product for use in eco-friendly technologies.

Looking to the future, SK hynix predicts a truly smart world will come to fruition alongside semiconductor memory solutions, like NAND flash, that converge storage with logic to overcome performance limitations, allowing ultra-high-speed computation and storage possible in one place with lower energy demand.

SK hynix is committed to continuously evolving and advancing the memory semiconductor industry strategically to better answer the demand of novel technologies. Built better, built smarter, and built greener, advanced semiconductor memory solutions are sure to meet the global community’s needs in a flash.

The post All in a Flash: How Flash Storage Changed the Way We Live first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

From then on, SK hynix has been reinforcing its technological leadership by introducing a series of world’s first, smallest, fastest, and lowest-power innovations in the semiconductor industry. At SK hynix, we’re in a state of constant movement – learning, searching, refining, questioning and creating. Constantly charging towards “the next big thing,” we systematically seek out new technology and work studiously to implement it.

In this article, we look at the biggest revolutions over the last few several years, and how our company has been at the forefront of them all. Our industry has always been very dynamic, where things change rapidly, but as we’ve been in the industry for nearly 40 years, we’ve learned how to adjust quickly to meet the needs of our customers and embrace emerging technology.

1. Video Game Revolution

From bringing Nintendo to Korea with the Hyundai Comboy in 1989, to providing the top tier SSD’s for modern gamers with the Gold S31 and P31, SK hynix has always been a true game-changer. Now, the era of gaming continues to bloom. With the increased popularity of open-world titles and game modes, gamers are continually looking for powerful memory and increased reliability in their technology, allowing them to play with minimal difficulties.

As the video game population grows rapidly, the gaming hardware market is tenacious to keep up. Solid-state drives (SSD) are leading this growth as the technology is extremely versatile across a variety of high-performance devices and provides a faster speed to reduce the interference of the game.

“The video games revolution has a significant impact on the SSD market; and in taking an important part in SSD section, we at SK hynix are proud to be one of the drivers of the technological innovations in the video games sector,” said Alexander Sapozhnikov, Functional Manager, FW Development at SK hynix memory solutions Eastern Europe. “By adopting SSDs, the gaming industry has seen a significant increase in loading bandwidth with predicted QoS, which allows showing higher quality content at a faster rate.”
SK hynix entered the SSD market for the first time in 2012, and since then, we have become the world’s leading memory provider by rigorously producing products that require proven performance, reliability and durability. During that period, our focus centered on server clients and PC OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) to provide enterprise and client SSD.

However, since 2019, SK hynix has pivoted into the consumer SSD market, with the launch of the SK hynix Gold S31 SSD, and more recently, the groundbreaking launch of the Gold P31 SSD just last month. The world’s first 128-layer NAND Flash-based consumer SSD, P31 is one of the fastest and most innovative consumer SSDs on the market.

“The video game industry is rapidly increasing the quality and reality of its scenes, thus new challenges are coming,” exclaimed Mr. Sapozhnikov. “The gamer’s needs are challenging and to help to solve them, we have talented and curious engineers and mathematicians on board.”
By maintaining a laser-sharp focus on our semiconductor innovations for nearly 40 years, SK hynix has continually refined its reputation, and with its Gold SSDs, SK hynix is again pushing the envelope on performance and durability through every title, every save, and every boss battle.

2. Dot Com Boom and personal computers

The creation of the internet changed the world like few times ever before as it began turning into a place where computers exist everywhere. The internet instantly ingrained itself into culture, becoming the largest news channel, research library, social club, shopping center, and multimedia kiosk. It disrupted our daily lives for the better with the increased use of personal computers, and in turn memory.

In the early 2000s, our developers anticipated that this DRAM technology will be suitable for multiple cost-effective computing platforms of the future. As we always do, we collaborated with our partners to help ensure that the DRAM roadmap was consistent with microprocessor and system architecture evolution in a variety of future systems.

“We have broadened the breadth and depth of collaboration with industry leaders in order to develop better products to meet customer demands and help industrial development, which has been triggered by this revolution,” stated Minho Kim, Project Leader, Server Product Planning at SK hynix Inc. “In this process, SK hynix executives and employees have devoted enthusiasm for the past 40 years, having made great efforts; And as a result, we are leading technology industry in the computing and server markets, including developing the world’s first DDR5 DRAM.”

Computing memories used in PCs and servers are continually evolving high performance and high-capacity data processing. Initially, starting with Single Data Rate (SDR) DRAMs and quickly advancing as the CPU’s processing speed increased. DRAM required faster processing speeds as well as higher memory bandwidth to keep up with demands.

Over the years, the industry has iterated newer, faster products like DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, and DDR5, which have continued to accelerate clock speed and meet the demand of consumers. The data generated annually is doubling every two years, and at the end of 2020, we were expected reach 44 zettabytes, or 44 trillion gigabytes.

3. Smartphone Revolution

The proliferation of smartphones in the late 2000s, suddenly had millions of people around the world equipped with a high-performance computer and camera that could fit into the palm of their hand. The wealth of data on the internet was instantly in your pocket, and photography was no longer restricted to photographers with the easy transfer of visual information widely available.

“LPDDR development began to secure the portability of smartphones, and LPDDR now occupies a large part in other markets such as notebooks and automotive,” said Jason Lee, Technical Leader, Mobile Product Planning at SK hynix Inc. “Recently, the demand of such LPDDR memories has been propelled by COVID-19-induced stay-at-home activities and the customers are increasingly demanding high-end applications for smartphones and notebooks. In line with this, SK hynix is always striving to lead such market changes and provide quality products to customers.”

The explosive growth of mobile markets such as mobile phones and tablets has contributed to the development of the mobile application memory field. The demand for mobile-oriented NAND is expected to increase as well since the trend of flagship smartphones, such as multiple camera adoption, would require more capacity.

SK hynix is increasing the level of integration of the CIS pixels through the continuous development of device and process technologies and supporting various application fields through the ISP technology development. SK hynix’s CIS will be utilized in various application fields including smartphone cameras to contribute to the creation of economic and social value and to grow as a key component of information sensors in the future.

4. The 4th Industrial Revolution

At SK hynix, we must acutely understand these technologies as we work with partners to bring the 4th industrial revolution to life. Industries such as artificial intelligence, AR/VR, autonomous vehicles, big data, IoT and 5G are expected to lead the future. Together, as a company, we have used our collective power to drive the 4th industrial revolution, pushing the world into an altogether novel chapter of progress and innovation.

“Collecting, storing, transferring and computing data efficiently just becomes ever more essential and pressing with the pace of industrial digitization,” said Jingjian Ren, Senior Staff Engineer, from NAND Algorithm & Failure Analysis Team in Firmware Group at SK hynix memory solutions America. “The data is big – a few Exabytes are being generated every day, and the data is fast – it has to be processed at the speed of thought to adapt to the need of real-time decision-making particularly in light of AI adoption. Therefore, advanced memory and storage technologies/solutions are playing an increasingly critical role.”

The expansion of the 4th industrial revolution technology will continue to see semiconductor memory prosper. By delivering innovative, high-performance and reliable products to our customers, SK hynix will continue to be a leader in the industry.
SK hynix has always been the world’s top tier semiconductor supplier among Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (“DRAM”) and with our NAND flash business, we will work to build a new future together. We will proactively respond to various needs from customers and optimize our business structure, expanding our innovative portfolio in the NAND flash market segment, which will rival what we have achieved in DRAM.

“As an employee, I’m proud to see that our company SK hynix, a pioneer in the semiconductor memory domain, has always been committed to exploring and enabling new paths to serving our customers and partners with our cutting-edge DRAM/3D NAND/next-generation NVM solutions,” affirmed Mr. Ren. “We will keep confronting the tremendous opportunities as well as challenges while riding on this 4th wave of another great revolution in human history.”

As we look ahead into the years to come, we are confident that the industry will keep growing exponentially as it looks to bring forward the next generations of technology. From 2021 and beyond, there are going to be many new applications being rolled out in these industries, and they will all require more memory, higher performance, higher capacity and a lower latency.

Our continued commitment

These are just a few of the many ways in which SK hynix has continually defined technology and been at the forefront of technological revolutions. Revolution is at the core of all our products – and at the core of our entire business.

Our proven track record of bringing our exceptional, high-performance, reliable products to more people in even bigger, bolder ways dates back nearly 40 years, and we’re not stopping there. SK hynix will continue to focus on our key technology competitiveness while developing next-generation technology.

While no one knows for sure what the next revolution will bring, but we certainly can say that the innovations of SK hynix will be at its core.

The post SK hynix: Leading Revolutions for Nearly 40 Years first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

The NAND market is showing a global expansion, along with the growth of the gaming industry and data centers. With the increase of remote working and online classes due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the demand for data centers and cloud servers has recently surged, which has led to an increase in demand for NAND memory. As the application fields and usage environments of NAND flash are becoming more diversified — from mobile and portable SSDs, to data centers, to enterprise SSDs and automotive — various requirements are emerging. Some common requirements are a higher write and read speed, maximized storage capacity, lower power consumption, and lower cost. To satisfy these requirements, the evolution of data storage methods and stacking methods is continuing.

Methods of NAND Flash Data Storage

NAND flash is a memory device that stores information by trapping electrons or holes in the trap site inside the silicon nitride. In this device, the current flows through the channel created by forming an active area and a gate on the surface of a Si wafer. Program (“1”) and erase (“0”) information is stored according to the type of charge stored in the floating gate. In the meantime, the operation of storing 1 bit in one cell is called a single-level cell (SLC). The number of electrons trapped inside the silicon nitride is proportional to the threshold voltage of the cell transistor. Therefore, when trapping a large number of electrons, a high threshold voltage is achieved. Likewise, trapping a small number of electrons results in a low threshold voltage.

You can identify the amount of trapped electrons by dividing the amount of trapped electrons into three and applying the intermediate voltage of each to the cell gate to check if the current flows. In that case, there exist four states, including the erase state: this is 2 bit-multi-level cell (2 bit-MLC). These four states of 2 bit-MLC can be described as “11”, “10”, “01”, and “00”, and each cell can store 2 bits of information. MLC refers to a state where a cell has a multi-level of 2 bits or more in a dictionary sense, however, it will be used as a counterpart to SLC in this article. MLC that stores 2 bits of information can be called 2 bit-MLC here for convenience.

By adopting the same method, when an eight-cell state is created and 3 bits of information are stored, this state is called triple-level cell (TLC). Likewise, when a 16-cell state is created and 4 bits of information are stored, it is called quadruple-level cell (QLC). When the cell state is denser, more information can be stored in one cell. For example, when comparing to an SLC NAND flash, a QLC NAND flash is capable of storing the same amount of information in a chip size which is 67.5% smaller; however, more program and read operations are required to increase the density in the cell state. Accordingly, the performance is degraded and the possibility of occurrence of a read error increases due to the narrow space between cell states, resulting in a short lifespan. Therefore, it is important to first decide whether to prioritize the amount of information or performance and longevity depending on the application field of the NAND flash, then choose the appropriate program method.

Figure 1. MLC Cell States

Image Download

Figure 2. Decrease in Chip Size according to MLC

Image Download

3D/4D-NAND and Trends in the NAND Flash Industry

NAND flash memory is evolving from 2D to 3D and 4D. For 2D-NANDs, the storage capacity has increased by forming a smaller active and gate using lateral scaling to form a larger number of cells in the same area. Until the beginning of 2010, scaling in 2D-NANDs was the main focus of the technology; however, due to the limitations of fine patterning and the lifespan issue where the data is lost over time, it became no longer possible to scale. Instead, 3D-NANDs have been the main focus since the early 2010s and now all NAND manufacturers are developing and manufacturing 3D-NANDs.

3D-NANDs have a structure where storage capacity increases as the number of layers stacked through the three-dimensional stacking increases. 3D-NANDs use a method of stacking multiple layers of oxide-nitride, forming a vertical deep hole called a “plug” thereon, and then forming a memory device made of oxide-nitride-oxide therein. Through this method, a large number of cells can be simultaneously formed through a small number of processes. In a 3D-NAND, current flows through a polysilicon channel located at the center of a cylindrical cell, and program and erase information are stored according to the type of the charge stored in the silicon nitride. While forming a smaller cell was the goal of the technological development in the 2D-NAND, the core technology for the 3D-NAND is to realize three-dimensional stacking with a higher number of layers.

Recently, to further maximize the storage capacity following the 3D-NANDs, SK hynix has developed a 4D-NAND which can make the chip size even smaller. 4D-NANDs form a peripheral circuit under the 3D-NAND cell to eliminate the area occupied by the peripheral circuit, resulting in the maximization of storage capacity and lower cost of NAND flash. Over the generations, the industry increases the number of layers to store more information. The industry’s leading companies including SK hynix have already completed the development and production preparations of products up to 128 layers, and even products with a larger number of layers are under development.

Figure 3. Comparison of 2D-NAND and 3D-NAND

Image Download

SK hynix’s Efforts in NAND Flash Technology

SK hynix presented a new 4D-NAND platform that maximizes storage capacity by forming peripheral circuits under the cell, using the periphery under cell (PUC) technology in the 96-layer, which is the 5th-generation 3D NAND, for the first time in the industry. In addition, SK hynix developed the industry’s first 6th-generation 128-layer product by applying the same platform, demonstrating its technological prowess in 4D-NANDs and effectiveness of the Tech Platform strategy.

The SK hynix’s 6th-generation 128-layer NAND flash features increased productivity by 40% through a 33% increase in the number of layers compared to the previous one. The random read performance was highly improved by implementing the plane interleave technology without compromising the chip area thanks to the PUC technology. In addition, the power consumption was also improved by more than 30% compared to the existing product.

In the background of this, there exists the Tech Platform strategy. While this strategy increases only the number of layers to enhance the capacity, it minimizes its development speed and investment costs by maintaining the same structure and technology. In other words, this strategy is optimal for 4D-NANDs where the capacity is enhanced by increasing only the number of layers while maintaining the same cell size. SK hynix is accelerating the development of the 7th-generation and other following products by applying this strategy to continue its technological leadership in the NAND flash sector.

Figure 4. Concept diagram representing the evolution from 2D to 4D-NAND

Image Download

Figure 5. 128-layer 1Tb TLC NAND flash

Image Download

Explosive Growth for NAND Flash

NAND flash is showing explosive growth with servers including mobile and data centers. In response to this, NAND flash technology has evolved from 2D NANDs to 3D-NANDs, and then 4D-NANDs. Technologies for NAND flash are being developed to increase the storage capacity, accelerate the write and read speed, decrease the power consumption, and reduce the cost. SK hynix, a leading developer of the 4D-NAND technology, will maintain its leadership in the NAND flash evolution in the future and provide a better experience to customers with its high-performance, low-power NAND flash memory.

The post Flashback : The Evolution of NAND Flash Technology first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

However, it is an ability that we have crafted over the years. A huge requirement for our business is to define products for future needs and future applications. This challenge often requires us to look three to five, even to ten years into the future.

We pride ourselves on our commitment to deliver best-in-class products and be good partners to all. It is a good challenge as we are able to go out and talk to many experts including industry leaders and partners, to understand how we can bring the next level of innovation to our products and the technology overall.

Image Download

SK hynix finished out the decade on a high note with several key milestones and industry’s firsts, including the development of the world’s fastest high bandwidth memory, HBM2E, and 1Znm 16Gb (Gigabits) DDR4 DRAM, as well as the launch of its Gold S31 consumer SSD and the world’s first 128-Layer 1Tb (Terabit) TLC NAND. We have a very diverse set of customers from both mobile and enterprise sectors and have seen positive growth on both our DRAM and NAND segments.

In addition, we will strive to achieve greater growth with market improvement by focusing on expanding our high-value added products that boast high density, low power consumption, and high-speed characteristics based on next-generation process technologies, in order to respond quickly to changes in demand for each application.

As we look ahead into the new decade, we are confident that the industry will keep growing exponentially as it looks to bring the next generations of technology. As we highlighted during our recent exhibition at CES 2020, industries such as artificial intelligence, AR/VR, autonomous vehicles, big data, IoT and 5G are expected to lead the future. From 2020 and beyond, there are going to be many new applications being rolled out in these industries, and they will all require more memory, higher performance, higher capacity and of course a lower latency.

The industry is forecasting increasing demand for 5G smartphones and we expect to see more growth in 2020. 5G will evolve rapidly and will drive new memory growth for a significant period of time. SK hynix will aim to deliver solid and sustainable growth in the face of structural changes in the demand environment while minimizing the volatility of the business.

Image Download

One of SK hynix’s biggest strengths is that we own core technologies for DRAM and NAND Flash. This allows us to provide very competitive solutions for both products and serve a diverse set of customers across different industries. For these reasons, SK hynix is well positioned to continue its upward momentum for all the new technologies and trends coming down the pipeline.

The post A Look Ahead at 2020: SK hynix Explains What’s Coming Down the Pipeline first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

Speeding towards the future of innovation, teams at SK hynix are often focused on the years to come – rather than on those that have passed. It is milestone moments like the end of a decade that offer us a unique opportunity to pause and reflect on our accomplishments and achievements.

As the decade draws to a close, SK hynix takes a look back at the 10 breakthrough moments in chronological order that defined it – and that will continue to define our future.

Image Download

1. Full-scale mass production of 16nm NAND flash(November 2013)

In order to actively respond to the needs of its customers, SK hynix started the full-scale mass production of 16nm 64Gb (Gigabit) MLC (Multi Level Cell) NAND Flash. This innovation brought the industry’s thinnest process technology and was more cost competitive due to its smaller chip size. The announcement began SK hynix’s reputation to bring forth a competitive NAND portfolio with high reliability and endurance.

2. Development of the world’s first next-generation mobile memory LPDDR4(December 2013)

At the end on 2013, SK hynix took large steps to heighten its technology leadership by developing the world’s first 8Gb LPDDR4 product with 20nm-class technology. LPDDR4 was the next generation mobile DRAM interface, which was on the process of standardization at that time, and gave customers ultrahigh speed and low power consumption. In fact, the product ran two times faster and does so at lower voltage than of its existing LPDDR3.

3. Development of the world’s first, highest density 128GB DDR4 module(April 2014)

SK hynix made a significant advancement in the ultrahigh density server market with the announcement that it had developed the world’s first and highest density of 128GB (Gigabytes) module based on 8Gb DDR4 using its advanced 20nm-class technology. This module has double density compared to the company’s existing 64GB by taking advantage of TSV (Through Silicon Via) technology. This product helped cement the company’s reputation on providing premium DRAM with high density, ultrahigh speed, and low power consumption.

4. Development of the world’s highest density 16GB NVDIMM(October 2014)

In late 2014, SK hynix announced that it had developed the world’s highest density 16GB NVDIMM (Non-Volatile DIMM) based on 4Gb DDR4 using its advanced 20nm-class technology. By combining DRAM, NAND Flash and the controller in a single module, this product was able to send DRAM data to NAND Flash, whose density was two times bigger than the DRAM, in an unanticipated power loss, thus saving and restoring data safely. Ahead of mass production, SK hynix provided samples to several customers and the product got attention from corporations developing servers and operating systems in need of higher stability.

Image Download

5. Launch of the world’s first, highest density 8GB LPDDR4X(January 2017)

SK hynix launched 8GB LPDDR4X mobile DRAM, the world’s highest density in the LPDDR4X standard, using its state-of-the-art dual channel 16Gb chips aimed to suit the upcoming flagship smartphone lineups. This technology allowed mobile device users to maximize their experiences and was expected to be included in various applications such as high-end laptops and automotive electronics.

6. Introduction of the world’s highest 72-layer 3D NAND Flash(April 2017)

In 2017, SK hynix unveiled the industry’s first 72-Layer 256Gb 3D NAND Flash based on its TLC (Triple-Level Cell) arrays and own technologies. This innovation stacked 1.5 times more layers than the already widely available 48-Layer 3D NAND, achieving 30% more productivity. 3D NAND is widely used in AI (Artificial Intelligence), big data and cloud storage. With this achievement, SK hynix secured the industry’s finest 3D NAND product portfolio, solidifying its business competence in NAND memory solutions.

7. Launch of the world’s first “CTF-based 96-layer 4D NAND Flash”(November 2018)

SK hynix was the first in the industry to combine the 3D CTF (Charge Trap Flash) design with PUC (Peri. Under Cell) technology. This 96-Layer 512Gb “CTF-based 4D NAND Flash” based on its TLC arrays reduced more than 30% of chip size and increased bit productivity per wafer by 49% compared to the company’s 72-layer 512Gb 3D NAND. It also provided a 30% higher write and 25% higher read performance. This achievement marks a milestone for the company’s NAND Flash business as a platform for developing future products.

8. Demo of the industry’s first ZNS-based SSD solution for data centers(March 2019)

SK hynix began 2019 with a strong first quarter when the company demonstrated the industry’s first ZNS (Zoned Namespaces) SSD solution at the 2019 OCP Global Summit in San Jose, CA. The ZNS SSD boasted 30% improvement in speed and reliability compared to the existing SSD, as well as more than four
times longer lifetime, making it suitable for the next-gen data centers. SK hynix plans to launch commercial products in the first half of 2020.

Image Download

9. Mass production of the world’s first 128-layer 4D NAND(June 2019)

In another major milestone this year, SK hynix started mass-producing world’s first 128-Layer 1Tb (Terabit) TLC NAND, the highest vertical stacking and highest density for a TLC NAND Flash chip. This feat was accomplished only eight months after the company previously announced the 96-Layer 4D NAND last year. The new NAND Flash chip has significantly improved profitability with 40% higher productivity and 60% better investment efficiency, targeting high-capacity mobile and enterprise SSD customers.

10. Development of the world’s fastest High Bandwidth Memory, HBM2E(August 2019)

Earlier this year, SK hynix developed the world’s fastest high bandwidth memory, HBM2E. As the DRAM technology here supports 460GB per second (3.6Gbps per Pin) data processing speed performance, the product is expected to be adopted by high-end machine learning, supercomputers and artificial intelligence. The new HBM2E boasts approximately 50% higher bandwidth and 100% additional capacity compared to the previous HBM2. It will strengthen SK hynix’s leadership in the premium DRAM market.

If we had to sum up the progress of the memory industry – and the continued improvement of SK hynix’ products – over the past 10 years, we would say: smaller, better, faster. From 2013’s mass production of the 16nm NAND flash to 2017’s introduction of the world’s highest 72-layer 3D NAND Flash, to 2019’s development of the world’s fastest HBM2E, we’ve delivered reduced chip sizes, ultrahigh speeds, and higher-quality experiences to our clients around the world.

While no one knows for certain what the next decade will bring, we certainly can say that the innovations of SK hynix will be at its core.

The post A Decade of Innovation: SK hynix Looks Back at its Top Advancements 10 Years of Trailblazing & Industry “Firsts” first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.