SK hynix Leads with World's First HBM4 Mass Production

On September 12, SK hynix announced a major breakthrough with the successful development of its next-generation high-bandwidth memory, HBM4*, and revealed that it has built the world's first mass production system for the technology.

* HBM(High Bandwidth Memory): This high-value, high-performance memory vertically interconnects multiple DRAM chips and dramatically increases data processing speed in comparison to conventional DRAM products. There are six generations of HBM, starting with the original HBM which was followed by HBM2, HBM2E, HBM3, HBM3E, and HBM4.

The company emphasized that HBM4 will lead the new era of artificial intelligence, delivering unmatched performance, energy efficiency, and reliability. According to Executive Vice President Joo-Hwan Cho, completing the development marks "a new milestone for the industry," ensuring that customers gain faster time-to-market with solutions optimized for AI-driven workloads.

The demand for high bandwidth* memory is surging as AI applications and massive data processing push system speeds to new limits. Data centers, already burdened by rising energy costs, are prioritizing energy-efficient memory as a critical requirement. HBM4 directly addresses these challenges by doubling data transfer channels to 2,048 I/Os, offering over 40% better energy efficiency, and reaching 10Gbps speeds, well above the JEDEC* standard of 8Gbps.

* Bandwidth: In HBM products, bandwidth refers to the total data capacity that one HBM package can process per second.

* JEDEC(Joint Electron Device Engineering Council): A standardization body that is the global leader in developing open standards and publications for the microelectronics industry. 

SK hynix projects that integrating HBM4 into customer systems could boost AI service performance by up to 69%, significantly cutting data center power consumption while eliminating bottlenecks in large-scale data handling.

The product's development was enabled by SK hynix's advanced MR-MUF packaging technology and its fifth-generation 10nm-class (1b) DRAM process, both designed to enhance stability and minimize production risks.

* MR-MUF(Mass Reflow Molded Underfill): The process of stacking semiconductor chips, injecting liquid protective materials between them to protect the circuit between chips, and hardening them. The process has proved to be more efficient and effective for heat dissipation, compared with the method of laying film-type materials for each chip stack. SK hynix's advanced MR-MUF technology is critical to securing a stable HBM mass production as it provides good warpage control and reduces the pressure on the chips being stacked.

Chief Marketing Officer Joo-Sun Kim highlighted the significance of the achievement, noting that establishing the HBM4 production system represents "a turning point in overcoming the limits of AI infrastructure" and positions the company as a leader in full-stack memory solutions for the AI era.