Samsung Electronics plans to use patents from China's YMTC in the manufacturing process for next-generation NAND flash memory. It is estimated that Samsung Electronics entered into this contract to avoid the patent dispute related to 'hybrid bonding,' which is expected to be essential for the production of 400-layer NAND flash memory.
According to industry sources on the 24th, Samsung Electronics has reportedly signed a 'hybrid bonding' license agreement with YMTC for three-dimensional (3D) NAND manufacturing. Hybrid bonding is a process that stacks chips using copper without the 'bumps' that traditionally connect chips, allowing for reduced chip sizes while improving performance. The industry anticipates that hybrid bonding will become an essential process as the number of layers in NAND flash memory exceeds 400.
YMTC registered the hybrid bonding patent and was the first to apply the relevant technology in the manufacturing process of NAND flash memory. Although YMTC significantly trails behind global memory semiconductor corporations such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in terms of market share, it is quickly catching up with South Korean firms, recently starting mass production of 294-layer NAND flash memory.
Samsung Electronics is analyzed to have signed a patent agreement to avoid potential patent disputes with YMTC in the future. They have preemptively entered into a licensing agreement concerning technology that is expected to have a high possibility of patent infringement between the two companies. An industry source stated, 'In the memory semiconductor industry, licensing agreements are typically made in advance to avoid patent disputes before the development and manufacturing of next-generation products.' While this is a customary practice in the memory semiconductor sector, it is a fact that concerns are growing over the rapidly narrowing technology gap with China, since the leading company in the NAND flash memory market, Samsung Electronics, is utilizing patents from a Chinese firm.