Micron Shipping 1α Node Based LPDDR4X
Micron Technology recently announced that it has begun shipping the world’s first 1α (1-alpha) node-based low-power DRAM (LPDRAM) memory. Starting with LPDDR4X, the process technology will further reduce the energy consumption of the entire mobile LPDRAM family of products. LPDDR4X for budget and mid-range smartphones is currently in volume production at Micron’s advanced DRAM foundry in Taiwan.
With a focus on battery life, Micron says 1α LPDDR4X is 20% more energy efficient than the previous generation of 1z node-based LPDRAMs in memory-intensive applications such as video and photography. Since DRAM accounts for approximately 10% of total system power usage, consumers can add an hour of battery life over a three-day usage period. The new memory from Micron is available in capacities ranging from 2GB to 8GB to support budget and mid-range smartphones.
How does Micron’s 1α process improve energy efficiency?
Typically next-generation DRAM manufacturing nodes can save an average of 10 percent in energy consumption, and 1α DRAM has a much higher-than-average energy performance. Like other semiconductor products, DRAM requires a very fine lithography process to deposit, remove and etch material on the chip, and Micron’s current process is more efficient than the previous generation of 1z manufacturing nodes.
Micron’s 1α process technology increases memory density by 40% while reducing power consumption. About half of the performance improvement was achieved by improving the design of the DRAM as well as the materials and equipment. Micron said that Lenovo became the first cell phone customer to validate Micron’s 1α LPDDR4X, demonstrating the quality and maturity of Micron’s 1α low-power DRAM products.
