SOUTH KOREA – Samsung Electronics has unveiled an ultra-slim packaging design, branded LPDDR5X DRAM, to create additional space within mobile devices and facilitate better airflow.
This design supports easier thermal control, which is increasingly critical for high-performance applications with advanced features such as on-device AI.
The electronics packaging supplier has begun mass production of what it claims to be the “industry’s thinnest” 12 nanometer (nm)-class, 12-gigabyte (GB) and 16GB LPDDR5X DRAM packages for the low-power DRAM market.
“Samsung’s LPDDR5X DRAM sets a new standard for high-performance on-device AI solutions, offering not only superior LPDDR performance but also advanced thermal management in an ultra-compact package,” said YongCheol Bae, executive vice president of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics.
“We are committed to continuous innovation through close collaboration with our customers, delivering solutions that meet the future needs of the low-power DRAM market.”
Samsung offers the 12 nm-class LPDDR DRAM in a four-stack structure, reducing thickness by approximately 9% and improving heat resistance by about 21.2% compared to the previous generation product.
By optimizing the printed circuit board and epoxy molding compound (EMC) techniques, the new LPDDR DRAM package is “as thin as a fingernail” at 0.65 millimeters (mm), making it the thinnest among existing LPDDR DRAM packages of 12GB or more.
Samsung uses its optimized back-lapping process to minimize the package height.
The company plans to expand the low-power DRAM market by supplying its 0.65 mm LPDDR5X DRAM to mobile processor makers and device manufacturers.
As demand for high-density mobile memory solutions in smaller package sizes grows, Samsung plans to develop 6-layer 24GB and 8-layer 32GB modules, aiming to make them the thinnest LPDDR DRAM packages for future devices.
Meanwhile, Samsung denied a Reuters report claiming that its fifth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM), an 8-layer HBM3E product, has passed Nvidia’s tests.
“It is far from being true,” said a Samsung Electronics official. “We cannot confirm stories related to our customers, but the report is not true. As we said during a conference call last month, the quality test is ongoing and there has been no change since then.”
Earlier in the day, some media outlets cited three anonymous sources saying that Samsung and Nvidia are expected to sign a supply agreement soon, with 8-layer HBM3E chip deliveries starting in the fourth quarter.
However, they added that the testing of 12-speed HBM3E from Samsung Electronics is still underway.
During a conference call on July 31 to announce its second-quarter earnings, Samsung Electronics mentioned providing samples of its 8-layer HBM3E product to major customers like Nvidia.
These samples were given in preparation for an increase in the chip’s volume production at the beginning of the last quarter, with quality tests currently underway and mass production supply expected to begin in the third quarter.
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