Reducing DRAM’s power footprint has always been table stakes for vendors like Micron Technology, but AI-driven data centers are putting more pressure on memory makers to make further advances in power efficiency.
Micron recently announced it is shipping samples of its 1γ (1-gamma), sixth-generation (10 nm-class) DRAM node-based DDR5 memory. The 16Gb DDR5 memory is designed to offer speed capabilities of up to 9200MT/s, a 15% speed increase compared to its predecessor, while also reducing power consumption by 20% by using next-generation high-K metal gate CMOS technology paired with design optimizations.
Micron’s sixth generation of what the company is calling its “one series” is driving performance, power, bit density and capacity improvements with each successive node. Increasing performance is always a top priority with each new node, but power reduction was a big focus for 1-gamma. These power improvements have been incremental since Micron went from 1-z to 1-alpha, with the goal of achieving double digit power reduction with every technology node.
The design of Micron’s 1-gamma has benefited from successfully integrating EUV lithography along with the company’s advanced multi-patterning techniques to achieve a 30% increase in bit density. High-K metal gate CMOS technology, meanwhile, enables better transistor performance.
Micron is the last of the “Big Three” DRAM makers to move to EUV, but was Micron was the first to use self-aligned double-patterning in the early 2000s as a means to delay the purchase of expensive immersion scanners, and did the same with EUV imagers, which cost more than $100 million each.
Micron’s 1-gamma node will first be used for its 16 Gb DDR5 DRAM and over time will be integrated across the company’s memory portfolio. Its 1-gamma samples are going out to the company’s CPU partners and select customers over the next one to two quarters as part of its technology enable program to support interoperability and qualification work across multiple platforms and segments.
Read the full EE Times article.
Gary Hilson is a freelance writer with a focus on B2B technology, including information technology, cybersecurity, and semiconductors.