SK hynix announced on Friday that it has successfully completed the development of high bandwidth memory 4 (HBM4), its next-generation high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) memory product, and established the world’s first mass production system.
The company stated that they have successfully developed HBM4, which will drive the new AI era, and built the world’s first mass production system based on this technological achievement. This reaffirms the leadership in AI memory technology in the global market.
Jo Joo-hwan, Vice President of SK hynix in charge of HBM development, said that the completion of HBM4 development will set a new industry benchmark. Further, they will secure a competitive edge in the AI memory market and achieve rapid market entry by timely supplying products that meet customer demands for performance, energy efficiency, and reliability.
With the explosive growth in AI demand and data processing volumes, there has been a recent surge in demand for HBM to achieve faster system speeds. Additionally, as data centers grapple with the burden of massive power consumption, ensuring memory power efficiency has become a critical customer requirement. SK hynix expects HBM4, with its enhanced bandwidth and energy efficiency, to be the optimal solution to these challenges.
The newly mass-produced HBM4 doubles the bandwidth by applying 2048 data transmission channels (I/O), twice that of the previous generation, while boosting power efficiency by over 40%. This achievement represents world-class data processing speed and power efficiency. When integrated into customer systems, it can enhance AI service performance by up to 69%.
SK hynix has also implemented an operating speed of over 10 Gbps (10 gigabits per second) for this product, significantly surpassing the 8 Gbps standard set by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) for HBM4.
The company minimized mass production risks by applying its proven advanced Mass Reflow Molded Underfill (MR-MUF) process and 10-nanometer 5th generation (1bnm) dynamic random access memory (DRAM) technology to HBM4 development.
MR-MUF is a process that involves stacking semiconductor chips, injecting a liquid protective material between them to safeguard circuits, and then solidifying it. SK hynix’s advanced MR-MUF reduces the pressure applied during chip stacking compared to existing processes and improves control over warping, making it a key technology for ensuring stable mass production within the HBM supply ecosystem.
Kim Joo-sun, President of SK hynix AI Infra and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) stated that the official announcement of the world’s first mass production system for HBM4 marks a symbolic turning point that transcends the limitations of AI infrastructure. Further noting that it’s a key product to solve the technical challenges of the AI era. They aim to grow into a full-stack AI memory provider by supplying the highest quality memory with diverse performance capabilities required in the AI era in a timely manner.