Worlds first 1-Gbit DRAM at Electronics 96

01/01/1997

World`s first 1-Gbit DRAM at Electronica 96

At the world`s biggest electronic components show, the 17th International Trade Fair for Components and Assemblies in Electronics (Electronica 96), in Munich, Germany, Samsung Semiconductor, a division of Samsung Electronics Co. of Seoul, South Korea, officially announced the successful development of a fully working die of a 1-Gbit DRAM. According to a company spokesman, the new device is working at room temperature and is the first memory of its kind in the world, containing 1,074,000,000 fully working cells. With a total size of 569.5 mm2, the chip is just a first approach, its design unsuitable for mass production. The device is made using 0.18-micron design rules and CMOS process technology. In addition to its high density, the DRAM has a power-conserving, low-voltage design that accepts voltage sources ranging from 1.8 to 2.0 V. The device achieves an operating speed of 30 nsec by applying multibank synchronous structures in its design. In order to improve the yield ratios in mass manufacturing, Samsung utilized a new redundancy technology. All in all, Samsung invested 220 billion won (roughly US $272 million) in the project, employing 120 key researchers for two years and five months. The new device should be commercially available around the turn of the century with full-scale production forecast for around 2005.

Consolidated to four days, from five at the previous show, Electronica 96 surpassed expectations, with 84,000 visitors and 2860 companies exhibiting. Product group categories were increased from five to eight, making the fair more function- and application-oriented. Electronica 98 - the fair takes place biennially - will be held at Munich`s new trade-fair center, which will offer more space and better infrastructure than the current premises.