SK Hynix, the leading provider of AI memory solutions, has started mass production of the world’s first 12-layer HBM3E product, boasting 36GB capacity, the largest for any HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) product to date. This breakthrough follows its previous achievement of producing 24GB HBM3E, made by stacking eight 3GB DRAM chips.
SK Hynix said the new HBM3E, an extension of the HBM3 generation, boosts data processing speed by vertically interconnecting multiple DRAM chips. It marks the fifth generation of HBM, following earlier iterations HBM1, HBM2, and HBM2E. SK Hynix is the first company to develop and mass-produce the entire HBM lineup since the introduction of HBM technology in 2013.
In March 2024, SK Hynix supplied its 8-layer HBM3E product, and now, just six months later, the company is set to deliver the 12-layer version to customers. This new product meets the highest industry standards for speed, capacity, and stability — qualities essential for AI memory applications.
SK Hynix has achieved a memory speed of 9.6 Gbps, the highest available, making it ideal for AI tasks, such as powering large language models (LLMs) like Meta’s Llama 3. If a single GPU is equipped with four HBM3E units, it could read the 70 billion parameters of the Llama 3 model 35 times in one second.
Additionally, the company increased the memory capacity by 50 percent by stacking 12 layers of DRAM while keeping the same thickness as the previous 8-layer product. This was achieved by making each DRAM chip 40 percent thinner and using advanced Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology to stack them vertically.
To ensure the structural stability and efficiency of the thinner chips, SK Hynix employed its Advanced MR-MUF process, enhancing heat dissipation by 10 percent and improving the overall reliability of the product.
With this latest innovation, SK Hynix aims to maintain its leadership in the AI memory market, addressing the growing demand for high-performance, reliable memory solutions. The company expects to begin supplying customers with the 12-layer HBM3E product before the end of 2024.
