Samsung claims breakthough in key techonologies

An employee shows Samsung's 2-Gigabit DDR2 SDRAM memory chip using 80-nanometer process technology during a press conference at a Hotel in Seoul on September 20. PHOTO: AFP

The world's leading semiconductor maker said it had developed the industry's first 60-nanometer 8-gigabit NAND Flash memory chip used for data storage. One nanometer is equal to one billionth of a meter.

The 8Gb NAND flash memory will allow storage of up to 16 hours of DVD quality video or 4,000 MP3 audio files or songs on a single memory card.

"For the first time in the industry, we have succeeded in commercialising next-generation 60-nano technology," the company said in a press statement.

The company said the mass production of the 8Gb NAND chips will begin late next year, following the first-quarter 2005 launch of the 4Gb NAND flash memory device.

A second breakthrough concerns its development of the world's first 2Gb DDR2 SDRAM using existing, 80-nanometer micro-processing technology.

The high density, double-data-rate or DDR2 chip will enhance server and workstation performance and enable faster deployment of memory-intensive applications such as real-time video conferences, remote medical services, two-way communications and 3-D graphics, it said.

The chip was produced using existing 80-nano technology instead of 65 nanometers or less.

It was widely believed in the industry that the development of such a high-capacity memory chip would be possible only by using processing technology on a scale of 65 nanometers or less.

"This development has shown that the expansion of semiconductor capacity is also possible by improving design and process technology, rather than micro-process technology alone," Hwang Chang-Gyu, president of Samsung Electronics's semiconductor division, told journalists.

Samsung plans to launch mass production of the 80-nano process, 2Gb DDR2 SDRAMs in the second half of 2005.

The company also said it had developed the world's fastest, 667-megaHertz central processing unit (CPU) chip for mobiles which are suitable for three-dimensional graphics.