China’s CXMT unveils ‘key progress’ on chip structure pursued by Samsung, SK Hynix

China's memory chip company ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has made "key progress" on a new chip structure that competitors Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are also working on to increase memory density, according to the company. CXMT plans to launch a new server-memory product utilizing this structure by the end of 2026, according to president Cao Kanyu at a Shanghai industrial event.

The core of the 4F square design is its Vertical Surrounding Gate (VSG) transistor, which uses a vertical gate architecture to tackle current leakage, reduce unit area, and boost storage density. This shift from the mainstream 6F square structure to the 4F square represents a significant transition from horizontal to vertical transistor channels.

CXMT, based in Hefei, China, expects to release a new generation of DDR5 RDIMM by year-end, incorporating the advanced technology. The server product demands higher endurance and compatibility than consumer memory products, needing to support constant operation, voltage fluctuations, and hundreds of compatibility tests with various CPUs and motherboards.

Since listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Star Market in July, CXMT has unveiled its fifth-generation DRAM manufacturing platform, G5, entering mass production, narrowing the gap with global leaders. Founded in 2016, the company has been researching the 4F square architecture since its inception and has over 300 related patent families.