Analyst: Micron's non-volatile NVDRAM memory has many highlights, but is unlikely to be commercialized

According to news from this site on January 29, Micron disclosed its 32Gb 3D NVDRAM (non-volatile DRAM) research and development results at the IEEE IEDM conference in late 2023. However, according to the news obtained by foreign media Blocks & Files from two industry analysts interviewed, this breakthrough new memory is basically unlikely to go towards commercial mass production, but the technological progress it shows It is expected to appear in future memory products.

Micron's NVDRAM memory is based on the principle of ferroelectricity (note from this site: it has spontaneous polarization, and the polarization direction can be reversed under an external electric field), and can be used in non-easy devices with similar NAND flash memory It achieves high endurance and low latency close to DRAM while achieving lossless performance. The new memory uses double-layer 3D stacking, and its capacity density of 32Gb sets a new record for ferroelectric memory. Micron has tested NVDRAM samples based on the LPDDR5 specification and deemed them suitable for demanding AI workloads.

▲Related paper poster, picture source Egnyte However, both analysts interviewed believe that Micron NVDRAM itself is unlikely to become mass-produced product.

Jim Handy, an analyst from Objective Analysis, believes that Micron's 32Gb NVDRAM has three important technological advances:

For the first time, a smaller ferroelectric capacitor is implemented in the product than existing DRAM;

Introduce polysilicon technology in vertical channels;

Promote CuA (under CMOS array) technology used for 3D NAND production to the memory field.

Jim Handy believes that Micron NVDRAM uses zirconium (Zr)-doped hafnium oxide (HfO₂) high dielectric constant material in the capacitor, which can significantly reduce the memory refresh rate and significantly save power consumption. This improvement can also reduce the size of capacitors in DRAM, further increasing storage density.

The above series of technological improvements allow Micron to produce 32Gb NVDRAM using only 48nm mature process. For comparison, Samsung launched DDR5 DRAM with the same 32Gb capacity last year, using a 12nm process, which is significantly ahead of Micron samples.

However, Jim Handy also said that he has heard some hints that the NVDRAM will not enter the mass production stage.

Another analyst interviewed was Mark Webb from MKW Ventures. He believes that Micron has invested a lot of time and energy in related projects. When such a detailed paper appears at an IEDM conference, there are generally only two situations: either the product is about to be launched; or the product is canceled for unknown reasons. Mark Web concluded that he also doesn't think this particular version of the product will ever be produced.

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