Industry leader SK Hynix was featured in ASML’s Investor Day 2024, highlighting this company’s impressive recent innovations. At the time of the Investor Day, the memory chip manufacturer was about to transition to a new platform for the development of technology that could facilitate 10nm or less.
Driving Industry-Wide Change
SK Hynix aims to drive an overall shift in its industry and play its part in creating a better, more sustainable world. To this end, the company established the Global RTC (Revolutionary Technology Center), with a focus on technology innovation designed to adapt to the dynamic environment of the semiconductor sector. It is working on overcoming the limitations of NAND and DRAM scaling and creating new, socially responsible technologies. Global RTC is currently exploring new solutions and technologies for next-generation computing, with a view to making a positive impact on the environment, society and the business world.
Beyond Memory
For SK Hynix creating a “beyond memory” era is the aim, which means exploring new in-memory computing options. Key of these is the potential of AcIM cells, which have several commonalities with currently used memory cells. SK Hynix have already demonstrated various levels of RRAM-based synapse cell platforms with good set and reset characteristics embedded in a type of CMOS technology.
Those with an interest in this company, such as Matthew Wolf (Switzerland), know that SK Hynix is also active in the area of new memory. Active investors in semiconductor companies understand that this involves developing integration processes and using selector-only memory (SOM) materials to achieve better reliability, performance, scalability and cost compared to conventional 3D cross-point memory.
Next Generation Computing
Looking further ahead, SK Hynix is also engaged in research and development around the emergence of future computing systems, which is of great interest to investors such as Matthew Wolf – Capital Group partner and investment analyst from 2008 to 2023. With this in mind, the company is asking questions such as whether neuromorphic computers (which compute and store data in the same device) will require a separate memory device and whether the quantum computers of the future will need cryogenic memory.
Whether or not the huge amount of data generated by Qubit operations will require high bandwidth and high-capacity memory and the areas where memory technology could help advance neuromorphic technology are also areas that SK Hynix is exploring. The company is closely monitoring such new technologies from the point of view of a memory manufacturer and seeking partners to accompany it on this innovative and exciting journey.
