Sunday South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor said that it has developed the world's highest-density memory chip built on 40nm process technology.

As technology progresses, sometimes bigger isn't always better. Case in point: Hynix Semiconductor has figured out how to develop 1 GB DDR3 DRAM (dynamic random access memory) built on 40nm process technology... in other words, the circuits within this new memory chip are just 40 nanometers apart. To put its size in perspective, a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. As a result, the new chip is no larger than an adult fingernail.

Hynix's new DRAM will deliver a maximum speed of 2133Mbps and show a 50 percent productivity increase over the previous 50mn process technology, requiring less energy than its predecessor. The company also said that the new product will be cheaper to make, and by applying three-dimensional architecture, will see minimal leakage current.

"Hynix has become the world's first to apply the 40-nanometre-class technology to the DDR3 DRAM chip successfully," said Hynix spokesman Park Hyun. "The new chip development will help the company continue to lead the fast-changing memory chip market."

However, due to the plunging global economy, the memory chip industry has taken a huge hit below the belt. Still, the company hopes to expand its DDR3 specification and 40nm technology to other products including mobile DRAM, graphics DRAM, and even mass storage memory modules. That's bold news considering Toshiba slashed flash memory production at the beginning of the year, reducing output by 30 percent.

Hynix said that the new 40nm 1 Gb DDR3 is slated to enter mass production in Q3 2009.

Source : Tom's Hardware US