CXMT Put 24-Gigabit Phone Memory Into Mass Production

China’s largest DRAM maker says it has moved a denser generation of mobile memory from development into mass production. CXMT disclosed the platform on September 20 at the World Manufacturing Convention in Hefei, alongside two 24-gigabit LPDDR5X products intended for smartphones and other portable electronics.

CXMT says the new chips hold 50% more data than its previous equivalent products, while the process can place at least 50% more gross dies on a wafer than its fourth-generation platform.

What entered production

DRAM is the short-term working memory that devices use while running apps. LPDDR5X is a low-power version designed for battery-operated hardware. A 24-gigabit die stores 3 gigabytes, so several dies can be combined inside one package to provide the larger memory capacities advertised in phones and tablets.

CXMT is offering the chips in two package formats. The company says key storage features are spaced 11.95 nanometres apart and that it used quadruple patterning, a method that repeats lithography and processing steps to draw finer structures with existing equipment.

Why the manufacturing change matters

Putting more bits on each die can reduce the silicon area needed for a given memory capacity. Fitting more dies onto every wafer can also lower unit costs if enough of them pass testing. The distinction matters: CXMT’s 50% wafer figure counts gross dies before defective parts are removed, not final manufacturing yield.

The advance also carries supply-chain significance. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron dominate global DRAM, while US export controls have limited China’s access to some advanced chipmaking equipment and software. An additional producer at higher density could broaden supply for Chinese device makers, although availability outside China is still unclear.

Chip scaling depends on more than a single spacing number. NewTqnia previously examined how a low-voltage tunnelling transistor addressed another part of the semiconductor challenge: switching energy. Memory density, power, speed, defect rates and cost must all work together in a commercial product.