SK Hynix and Samsung to Use New Material in DRAM Production

TapTechNews May 30th news, with the continuous advancement of DRAM miniaturization, companies such as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are committed to the development and application of new materials.

According to TheElec, SKHynix plans to use Inpria's next-generation metal oxide photoresist (MOR) in the production of the 6th generation (1c process, approximately 10nm) DRAM, which is the first application of MOR in the DRAM mass production process.

Insiders said that there are five extreme ultraviolet (EUV) layers on the 1c DRAM mass-produced by SKHynix, and one of them will be drawn using MOR. He also added that not only SK Hynix, but also Samsung Electronics will pursue such inorganic PR materials.

TapTechNews found out through public information that Inpria is a subsidiary of the Japanese chemical company JSR and a leader in the field of inorganic photoresist; and MOR is considered to be the next-generation product of chemically amplified photoresist (CAR) currently used for advanced chip lithography.

In addition, the company has been cooperating with SKHynix in MOR research since 2022. SKHynix previously stated that using Sn (based) oxide photoresist will help improve the performance and reduce the cost of the next-generation DRAM.

TheElec report also pointed out that Samsung Electronics is also considering applying MOR to 1c DRAM. Currently, Samsung Electronics has applied 6 to 7 EUV layers on 1c DRAM, while Micron has only applied 1 layer.