Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
has developed and is about to begin mass production of a new memory chip for mobile telephones that is about 30 per cent smaller in physical size than existing chips. The new low-power, 8Mb static random access memory (SRAM) chip is produced using a 0.13-micron process that is one generation more advanced than the 0.15-micron process used to manufacture most current mobile phone memory chips. A micron is one-thousandth of a millimetre, and the process figure refers to the smallest gap that can be created between circuits on the surface of the chip. With each advance in technology, chips can be made physically smaller and with improved performance. Sample production of the chip, which was developed earlier this year, has just begun and mass production is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year, Samsung said.