Kioxia Develops OCTRAM (Oxide-Semiconductor Channel Transistor DRAM) Technology

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced the development of OCTRAM (Oxide-Semiconductor Channel Transistor DRAM), a new type of 4F² DRAM, comprised of an oxide-semiconductor transistor that has a high ON current, and an ultra-low OFF current, simultaneously. This technology is expected to realize a low power DRAM by bringing out the ultra-low leakage property of the InGaZnO^*1 transistor. This was first announced at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Francisco, CA on December 9, 2024. This achievement was jointly developed by Nanya Technology and Kioxia Corporation. This technology has the potential to lower power consumption in a wide range of applications, including AI and post-5G communication systems, and IoT products.

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Fig.1: Cross-sectional TEM image for the InGaZnO vertical transistor (Photo: Business Wire)

The OCTRAM utilizes a cylinder-shaped InGaZnO vertical transistor (Fig.1) as a cell transistor. This design enables the adaptation of a 4F² DRAM, which offers significant advantages in memory density compared to the conventional silicon-based 6F² DRAM.

The InGaZnO vertical transistor achieves a high ON current of over 15μA/cell (1.5 x 10^-5 A/cell) and an ultra-low OFF current below 1aA/cell (1.0 x 10^-18 A/cell) through device and process optimization (Fig.2). In the OCTRAM structure, the InGaZnO vertical transistor is integrated on top of a high aspect ratio capacitor (capacitor-first process). This arrangement allows for the decoupling of the interaction between the advanced capacitor process and the InGaZnO performance (Fig.3).

*1: InGaZnO is a compound of In(indium), Ga(gallium), Zn(zinc), and O(oxygen)

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About Kioxia

Kioxia is a world leader in memory solutions, dedicated to the development, production and sale of flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs). In April 2017, its predecessor Toshiba Memory was spun off from Toshiba Corporation, the company that invented NAND flash memory in 1987. Kioxia is committed to uplifting the world with memory by offering products, services and systems that create choice for customers and memory-based value for society. Kioxia's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH™, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, SSDs, automotive and data centers.

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