Samsung launches chip packaging “as thin as a fingernail”

07 Aug 2024 --- Leveraging its expertise in chip packaging, Samsung Electronics has designed an ultra-slim packaging design, branded LPDDR5X DRAM, that can create additional space within mobile devices, facilitating better airflow.

The design supports easier thermal control, a factor that is becoming increasingly critical especially for high-performance applications with advanced features such as on-device AI.

The electronics packaging supplier has begun mass production for the “industry’s thinnest” 12 nanometer (nm)-class, 12-gigabyte (GB) and 16GB LPDDR5X DRAM packages, for the low-power DRAM market.

“Samsung’s LPDDR5X DRAM sets a new standard for high-performance on-device AI solutions, offering not only superior LPDDR performance but also advanced thermal management in an ultra-compact package,” says YongCheol Bae, executive vice president of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics.

“We are committed to continuous innovation through close collaboration with our customers, delivering solutions that meet the future needs of the low-power DRAM market.”

Four-stack structure
Samsung offers the 12 nm-class LPDDR DRAM in a four-stack structure, reducing the thickness by approximately 9% and improving heat resistance by about 21.2%, compared to the previous generation product.

By optimizing the printed circuit board and epoxy molding compound (EMC) 2 techniques, the new LPDDR DRAM package is “as thin as a fingernail” at 0.65 millimeters (mm), marketed as the thinnest among existing LPDDR DRAM of 12GB or above. 

Samsung uses its optimized back-lapping process to minimize the package height.

The company says it plans to continue expanding the low-power DRAM market by supplying its 0.65 mm LPDDR5X DRAM to mobile processor makers as well as mobile device manufacturers.

As demand for high-density mobile memory solutions in smaller package sizes continues to grow, the company plans to develop 6-layer 24GB and 8-layer 32GB modules into the thinnest LPDDR DRAM packages for future devices.