Micron Delivers Industry’s First 1α DRAM Technology | Electronics Maker

Milestone further solidifies Micron’s technology leadership in both DRAM and NAND

Bangalore, India, Jan. 27, 2021 — Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), today announced volume shipment of 1α (1-alpha) node DRAM products built using the world’s most advanced DRAM process technology and offering major improvements in bit density, power and performance. This milestone reinforces Micron’s competitive strength and complements its recent breakthroughs with the world’s fastest graphics memory and the first-to-ship 176-layer NAND.

“This 1α node achievement confirms Micron’s excellence in DRAM and is a direct result of Micron’s relentless commitment to cutting-edge design and technology,” said Scott DeBoer, executive vice president of technology and products at Micron. “With a 40% improvement in memory density over our previous 1z DRAM node, this advancement will create a solid foundation for future product and memory innovation.”

Micron plans to integrate the 1α node across its DRAM product portfolio this year to support all environments that use DRAM today. The applications for this new DRAM technology are extensive and far reaching — enhancing performance in everything from mobile devices to smart vehicles.

Micron continues memory leadership momentum across multiple market segments

“Our new 1α DRAM technology will enable the industry’s lowest-power mobile DRAM as well as bring the benefits of our DRAM portfolio to data center, client, consumer, industrial and automotive customers,” said Sumit Sadana, executive vice president and chief business officer at Micron. “With our industry leadership in both DRAM and NAND technology, Micron is in an excellent position to leverage the growth in memory and storage, which are expected to be the fastest growing segments in the semiconductor industry over the next decade.” 

Micron’s 1α DRAM node will facilitate more power-efficient, reliable memory solutions and provide faster LPDDR5 operating speeds for mobile platforms that require best-in-class LPDRAM performance. Micron’s innovation brings the industry’s lowest-power mobile DRAM, with a 15% improvement in power savings,[1] allowing 5G mobile users to perform more tasks on their smartphones without sacrificing battery life.

Micron’s advanced memory node supports densities from 8Gb to 16Gb, offering the flexibility to sustain many of Micron’s current DDR4 and LPDDR4 products while giving Micron’s server, client, networking and embedded customers the power-efficient, reliable, extended product support they need. This longevity reduces the cost of customer requalification within their own product lifecycles. It also ensures better total cost of ownership over the system life in use case scenarios such as embedded automotive solutions, industrial PCs and edge servers that typically have longer lifespans.

Availability

Micron’s Taiwan fabs have begun volume production of 1α node DRAM, starting with DDR4 memory for compute customers and Crucial consumer PC DRAM products. Micron has also begun sampling LPDDR4 to mobile customers for qualification. The company will introduce additional new products based on this technology throughout calendar 2021.