Samsung raises the bar:
A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc.
Story posted 7:30 a.m. EDT/4:30 a.m. PDT, 9/24/98
Samsung samples 1-Gbit SDRAMs
SEOUL--Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. here today declared it has
become the first memory supplier to deliver early engineering
samples of 1-gigbit synchronous DRAMs to major computer
manufacturers. The Korean DRAM maker said it has sent 1-Gbit
SDRAM prototypes to Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM,
and Sun Microsystems.
When 1-Gbit SDRAMs move into production in the coming years,
Samsung said the high-density memories will enable module
makers to pack 2-gigabytes or more of storage into their products.
"Samsung intends to actively cooperate with software and
peripheral hardware developers as well as system architects to
ensure that this technology is fully enabled going forward," said Eui
Yong Chung, director of marketing for memory products at
Samsung.
The sampling 1-Gbit memories has impressed some industry
analysts. "The recent delivery of 1-Gbit SDRAM samples to major
OEMs validated Samsung as a technology leader committed to the
DRAM market," said analyst Sherry Garber, senior vice president
at Semico Research Corp. in Phoenix.
Samsung said it expects to outpace competitors by at least 12
months in the introduction of the 1-Gbit SDRAM. The Korean
company said the new device will be commercially available
around 2000, with full-scale production expected to ramp up
during the first half of the next decade.
Samsung is currently using a 0.18-micron process to produce a die
size measuring 18.8 x 3.2 mm, or 569 square mm. The 1-Gbit
design also uses triple-level metal wiring, with one tungsten and
two aluminum wiring layers, according to Samsung. The triple-level
metal process allows interconnect design rules (metal pitch) to be
50% larger that if two layers were used, the company said.
Tantalum oxide film, which is used in the process, has a dielectric
constant that is about three times higher than that found with
conventional oxide nitrate film. Samsung said the high-k material
enables it to reduce the size of the storage capacitor in the memory
cells. Other memory makers are also pushing hard to reduce cell
sizes for next-generation memories using new high-k dielectric
materials (see feature story from Sept. 1 issue) of SBN.
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