Samsung announces development of new 12nm DDR5 DRAM

South Korean tech giant, Samsung Electronics, announced on Wednesday that it has developed a new 16GB dynamic RAM (DRAM) using the industry’s first 12-nanometer class process technology.

In a blog post, the company said that it plans to begin mass production in 2023 and believes that the new DRAM will significantly improve “next-generation computing, data centres and AI applications with industry-leading performance and greater power efficiency.” In comparison, the industry currently uses 14nm EUV products on the market.

“Our 12nm-range DRAM will be a key enabler in driving market-wide adoption of DDR5 DRAM,” said Jooyoung Lee, Executive Vice President of DRAM Product & Technology at Samsung Electronics. “With exceptional performance and power efficiency, we expect our new DRAM to serve as the foundation for more sustainable operations in areas such as next-generation computing, data centres and AI-driven systems.”

Samsung Electronics Develops Industry’s First 12nm-Class DDR5 DRAMhttps://t.co/SQxgfj2caN

— Samsung Electronics (@Samsung) December 21, 2022

The company said that the breakthrough was made possible because of the use of new high-κ material that increases cell capacitance and proprietary design technology that improves critical circuit characteristics. In addition, when paired with advanced, multi-layer extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, the DRAM boasts the highest die density in the industry, leading to a 20% increase in wafer productivity, Samsung claimed.

Samsung claims that its new 12nm-class DRAM can achieve speeds of up to 7.2 Gbps. At those speeds, two 30GB ultra-high definition (UHD) movies can be processed in just one second. This impressive speed is made possible through Samsung’s collaboration with AMD, with the new DDR5 memory products optimised and validated on AMD’s “Zen” platforms, the company said.

In addition to its impressive speeds, the new DRAM also boasts better power efficiency, using up to 23% less power than previous DRAM technology. This makes it an ideal solution for global IT companies pursuing more environment-friendly operations, the company claimed in a statement.