SK Hynix pushes iHBM toward mass production with up to 30% lower thermal resistance
In short
SK Hynix is moving its iHBM technology toward mass production and has begun discussing production plans, CLS reported. The design adds cooling elements inside the HBM package and, per the company's data cited by cnBeta, cuts thermal resistance by about 30%.
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South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix is pushing its next-generation iHBM (Integrated High Bandwidth Memory) technology toward mass production and has begun discussing mass-production plans, CLS (Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily) reported on 22 October. 36Kr published the same summary, crediting CLS. [ 2 , 3 ]
CLS said the heat generated by high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is becoming an important bottleneck for performance as demand for computing power surges with the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. iHBM is seen as an important route to solving it. According to CLS, iHBM places cooling elements called integrated cooling elements (ICE) in the die-to-die physical layer (D2D PHY), reducing thermal resistance by up to 30%. [ 2 , 3 ]
cnBeta gave more detail in a report published on 21 October. It said HBM stacks ever more layers and runs faster to raise data throughput, and the resulting heat build-up is worsening, especially in the key area where HBM exchanges data with the GPU. According to cnBeta, ICE elements are made of a silicon-based material that conducts heat well but does not conduct electricity. They are placed directly in the hottest areas to give the heat an extra path out. [ 1 ]
cnBeta contrasted this with conventional HBM, which relies mainly on indirect heat conduction through the chip's internal structure. Citing figures published by SK Hynix, it said the new approach cuts thermal resistance by about 30% and helps chips keep running stably at high temperatures and heavy loads. It added that overheating makes chips slow down automatically, so better thermal management can raise performance and improve energy efficiency and system stability in data centers running AI training. [ 1 ]
cnBeta said SK Hynix stressed that iHBM can be mass-produced. It builds on the company's existing MR-MUF packaging process and wafer-level packaging technology and is highly compatible with the widely used system-level packaging architecture, so customers would not need to redesign their products substantially. The outlet said SK Hynix plans to use iHBM in future products such as HBM5, and that the industry widely sees cooling as one of the core measures of competition as stacks grow taller. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
Outlets say heat build-up is a growing constraint on high-bandwidth memory as AI computing demand rises. cnBeta says the industry widely sees cooling as a key measure of competition in the next stage of HBM. The documents give no timeline or customers for iHBM.
Key facts
- SK Hynix is pushing its iHBM (Integrated High Bandwidth Memory) technology toward mass production and has begun discussing mass-production plans, CLS reported. [ 2 , 3 ]
- iHBM places cooling elements called ICE (integrated cooling elements) in the die-to-die physical layer (D2D PHY) to cut thermal resistance by up to 30%. [ 2 , 3 ]
- cnBeta says, citing SK Hynix data, that the approach lowers thermal resistance by about 30%. [ 1 ]
- cnBeta describes the ICE elements as made of a silicon-based material that conducts heat well but does not conduct electricity, placed in the hottest areas. [ 1 ]
- cnBeta says iHBM builds on SK Hynix's existing MR-MUF packaging process and wafer-level packaging technology. [ 1 ]
- SK Hynix plans to use iHBM in future products such as HBM5, according to cnBeta. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- When iHBM mass production will start. CLS says only that SK Hynix has begun discussing mass-production plans; no date or volume is given.
- Where ICE sits in the package. CLS describes the elements as placed in the D2D PHY, while cnBeta says they sit directly in the areas where heat is most concentrated; the documents do not say whether these are the same location.
- The HBM5 plan and the customer-integration claims. They come from cnBeta alone and no SK Hynix statement is quoted directly.