Micron Technology is a US-based multinational semiconductor company that has operations in Japan and Taiwan for its chipmaking business. And as both Nikkei Asia and ITHome report, the tech giant will start mass-producing advanced DRAM memory chips at its Japanese Hiroshima plant in Q4 this year.
ITHome reports that on a press media visit to Micron’s A3 chip manufacturing factory, Micron‘s Taiwanese division director, Lu Donghui announced that the A3 factory will be introducing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment in the second half of the year, to prepare early for the mass production of 1-gamma DRAM that is due to launch in 2024.
And as for 1-Beta DRAM Mass Production, it is reported that 1-Beta DRAM will be initially manufactured in Japan, and then the production will switch over to the Taiwanese plant later. For context, the current 1-Alpha DRAM is manufactured in the Taiwanese plant.
And the report by ITHome seems to be valid, as another news outlet, Nikkei Asia has reached out to Chief Business Officer at Micron, Sumit Sadana, regarding the news of 1-Beta DRAM production.
Nikkei Asia quotes Sadana that the company will start mass-producing advanced DRAM memory chips at its Hiroshima plant by the end of the year, which falls in Q4 2022.
The company is coordinating with the Japanese government and business partners, such as equipment makers, to start producing them in Japan as well, Sadana said in an interview. He did not reveal the size of the investment in the Hiroshima plant but said manufacturing such chips generally requires new equipment and clean rooms.
Micron is expected to determine the scale of its investment based on government subsidies and other factors.
DRAM is used for temporary data storage in a wide variety of electronics, including smartphones and servers. And for Micron’s naming scheme, the company had already mass-produced its 1X, 1Y, 1Z and 1-alpha DRAM. The 1Xnm process is equivalent to 16-19nm, 1Ynm is equivalent to 14-16nm, and the 1Znm process is equivalent to 12-14nm. According to industry sources, the latest 1-alpha, 1-beta and 1-gamma may be equivalent to 14-12nm, 12-10nm and 10nm respectively
Micron has announced in 2021 plans to invest $150 billion in memory manufacturing and research and development worldwide over the next decade. With the company laying out plans for 1-beta production, industry watchers are looking to see where it will manufacture the next-generation 1-gamma DRAM, which is targeted for mass production in 2024.
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