❯ CXMT advances its 4F² DRAM architecture, with a new server memory module due by year-end

Standing transistors uprightAccording to Sina Finance, CXMT announced on October 10 a key advance in its 4F² DRAM architecture. President Cao Kanyu told the 4th Integrated Chips and Chiplets Conference that the company expects to launch a new-generation DDR5 RDIMM, a server memory module, using the technology by the end of this year. Specifications and a launch date have not been disclosed.

More cells in the same areaF is the smallest feature a chip process can make, and the area of each DRAM memory cell is measured in F². The industry standard is 6F²; 4F² means a smaller cell and more storage in the same space. The key is CXMT’s in-house VSG (vertical surrounded gate) transistor: it stands the transistor channel upright and wraps the gate around it, giving stronger control that eases leakage and short-channel effects. The company says it has more than 300 published patent families in 4F² technology.

Share and products advance togetherCXMT listed on Shanghai’s STAR Market on July 27 this year. According to Huxiu, citing an HSBC report from early October, CXMT’s share of the global DRAM market has risen to about 10%, from about 4% a year earlier. The same report says that on October 13, after the news, SK Hynix fell 10%, Samsung Electronics 7.4% and Micron about 4%. Earlier this year CXMT also announced mass production of LPDDR6 and of its fifth-generation process platform.

Server memory is the tough testChoosing a server memory module as the first 4F² product means facing data centers’ strict demands on performance, stability and compatibility head-on. AI servers keep needing more memory, and if the new architecture reaches volume production on schedule with steady supply, server makers will gain another DRAM supplier to choose from.

▮ SIGNALMemory competition is switching tracks: from shrinking line widths on an old architecture to being first to turn an entirely new architecture into a product that can be mass-produced.