Following the shipment of EUV-made DDR4 DRAM modules in March last year, Samsung has begun mass production of 14nm DDR5 devices. The Korean tech giant says it has increased the number of EUV layers in these chips to five, which helped to achieve the highest bit density currently available while also enhancing overall wafer productivity by 20 percent. Additionally, the 14nm process can help bring down power consumption by nearly 20 percent compared to the previous-generation DRAM node.
Logic makers were the first to adopt EUV lithography, but DRAM makers are now following suit. After Samsung got the ball rolling, SK Hynix announced in July that it had begun applying ASML’s technology in production. Micron intends to start in 2024. NAND manufacturers won’t be using EUV anytime soon: they’re scaling in the third dimension.