South Korea’s SK hynix Inc. has officially moved onto the fourth-generation of 10-nanometer (nm) process, starting mass-production of 8Gigabit DRAM chips for mobile devices on 1anm and joining a select group of chipmakers employing the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography to churn high-density chips for big data processing.

The 1a is the fourth and the newest generation of the 10 nm DRAM process solution following the 1x, 1y and 1z, the company said in a statement.

It is also the first time that the company used the EUV equipment for commercial production of its 1a DRAMs.

The world’s second largest DRAM maker said it will use the EUV technology for all its 1a DRAM production. The 1a technology will be applied to its next-generation DRAM products DDR5 from early 2022.

SK hynix said it expects the latest node technology to enhance productivity and yields. Compared to the third-generation process technology, the 1a can make 25 percent more DRAM chips from the same size of a wafer

The new product stably runs 4266Mbps, the fastest transfer rate in a standard LPDDR4 mobile DRAM specification, and has reduced power consumption by 20%, aiding the company to reduce carbon dioxide emission as part of its commitment to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) management.

In February, SK hynix signed a five-year procurement contract worth $4.34 billion with ASML to secure extreme ultraviolet (EUV) scanners.

Shares of SK hynix finished 0.4 higher at 120,000 won ($104.58) on Monday.

By Minu Kim

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