SK hynix has launched a brand new communicative platform to share its latest research achievements. The Revolutionary Technology Center (RTC) at SK hynix established the new platform – the official SK hynix research website (research.skhynix.com) – to share SK hynix’s recent semiconductor researches to academia and industries.
RTC was established in 2021 at SK hynix to prepare for the future of SK hynix’s semiconductor technologies. The mission of RTC is to propose mid- to long-term semiconductor research solutions to defy the challenges which current computing has been facing in recent years.
The research website, or the RTC website contains information regarding current interests of research areas and their results. RTC plans to utilize the website as a unified database of SK hynix’s research topics in the future. In the website, RTC started with three major research directions in the category of “Research Area” – △Revolutionary Memory, △Beyond Memory, and △Next Generation Computing. The activities within these focused areas are described in details.
In the “Revolutionary Memory” category, we introduce the ongoing researches to expand the current values of both DRAM and NAND flash and present directions of critical technological innovations to overcome the limits of existing semiconductor memory and achieve technological inflection point. Visitors can also check SK hynix’s ongoing efforts to develop New Memory like Phase-Change Memory (PCM)1) and Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM)2).
In the “Beyond Memory” category, we intend to share various research achievements featuring New-type Memory which can create new values amid future phases of next-gen technologies. Visitors can browse innovative technologies which will present new paradigms for the future semiconductor industry. Such technologies include semiconductors which combine memories with logic devices in different forms like Processing Near Memory (PNM)3), Processing in Memory (PIM)4), and Computing in Memory (CIM)5).
In the “Next Generation Computing” category, we will present our progress of fundamental researches which are aimed to proactively secure new concepts of semiconductor technologies that can be used to realize different forms of computing architectures like Neuromorphic Computing6), which is expected as an alternative to Post Von Neumann computing architecture. This category is just starting and the contents will be updated shortly.
The RTC expects this website to become a platform which can kick-start Open Research eco-system to help the dialogue between academia and industries who share the same interest in semiconductor R&D.
In this perspective, SK hynix has set up a “Creating New Value” category and shared the current status of its major research collaborations with global partners. Ultimately, SK hynix will establish a global-scale “Global R&D 24” system and operate a collaborative research organization which can overcome boundaries of time, regions, and geopolitics.
“Along with latest R&D news and insights, SK hynix will continuously update latest research achievements like publications and presentations at academic conferences on the new website,” Myung Hee Na, Head of RTC at SK hynix said. “We expects to invigorate collaborations with globally renowned players in semiconductor industries, academia, and research institutions.”
1Phase-Change Memory (PCM): PCM is a type of semiconductor memory which utilizes the phase changes of certain materials to storage data. PCM possesses qualities of both flash memories and DRAMs. Like flash memories, PCM is non-volatile, meaning that it does not lose information even when the power is cut. Like DRAMs, PCM processes data quickly and is power efficient.
2Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM): MRAM is a type of non-volatile semiconductor memory which utilizes magnetic reluctance to storage data. Like flash memories, MRAM does not lose information even when the power is cut, and like DRAMs it processes data quickly and is power efficient.
3Processing Near Memory (PNM): Semiconductors that combine memories and logic devices in a single module
4Processing in Memory (PIM): Semiconductors that combine memories and logic devices in a single package
5Computing in Memory (CIM): Semiconductors that combine memories and logic devices in a single die
6Neuromorphic Computing: a computing system that mimics the information processing method of a human brain. Unlike the existing computing structure in which logic devices and memories are connected in series, a Neuromorphic Computing structure connects them in parallel in a way that neurons and synapses are connected.
