Nov. 26, 2008 – Elpida Memory says it has completed development of a 50nm DDR3 SDRAM that’s twice as fast as Samsung’s version, with what the company says is the lowest power consumption available (1.2V operation).

The DRAM, built using 193nm (ArF) immersion lithography and copper technology, has a chip size of <40mm² . Data rates range from 800Mbps up to 2.5Gbps (double the speed of Samsung’s 50nm DRAMs, notes the Nikkei daily); electric current is 50% lower than the company’s 70nm DRAM process.

Mass production is slated to start in calendar 1Q09.