Smartphones are getting faster, but heat can slow them down. New memory technology helps manage heat, maintain performance, and extend battery life.
Smartphones with high-speed data transfer and on-device AI often face heat issues that can reduce performance. This problem is especially significant in flagship devices using Package on Package (PoP) design, where DRAM is stacked on top of the mobile application processor. While PoP saves space and improves data transfer speed, it also traps heat inside the DRAM, which can lower device performance.
To address this, SK hynix Inc. has started supplying mobile DRAM products with improved heat dissipation by adopting High-K Epoxy Molding Compound (EMC) for the first time in the industry. EMC is a critical material for semiconductor packaging that protects chips from water, heat, impact, and electrical charge while providing a path for heat to escape. High-K EMC raises thermal conductivity by using a material with a high heat-transfer coefficient.
SK hynix improved thermal conductivity by adding alumina to the silica traditionally used. The new High-K EMC increases thermal conductivity by 3.5 times and improves vertical thermal resistance by 47%. This helps maintain smartphone performance, improve battery life, extend product lifespan, and reduce power consumption. Global smartphone companies expect the product to help manage heat in high-performance flagship smartphones.
The target users for this product are global smartphone manufacturers, especially those developing high-performance flagship devices that require efficient heat management to maintain processing speed and reliability. These manufacturers can integrate the new DRAM into PoP designs without major hardware changes while ensuring better thermal performance.
“It’s a meaningful achievement that goes beyond a simple performance improvement as it addresses the inconvenience that many high-performance smartphone users may have had,” Lee Gyujei, Head of Package Product Development, said. “We are committed to firmly establishing our technological leadership in the next-generation mobile DRAM market with our technological innovation in materials.”
