✧✦Catherine✦✧Feb 28
today I learned that we (as a civilization) now can put 16 silicon flash dice into a single 700µm microSD card on a commercial scale https://www.ose.com.tw/en/ic-services/memory-product-package/microsdsd
Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧Feb 28

if you think that the precariously balanced tower of flash above is an inaccurate representation of what's going on, i can reassure you that
(a) this is exactly how it looks like, and
(b) SK Hynix is up to 24 layers already (not sure in what application)

https://news.skhynix.com/semiconductor-back-end-process-episode-4-packages-part-2/

Show threadRootWyrm 🇺🇦

@whitequark the 24 layer one will truly blow your mind, and then some.

Notice how certain GPUs have weird memory configurations, which are divisible by 12/24/48/96 but not 8/16/32/64?

Those are HBM3/HBM3E. SK Hynix constructs their 24GB and 48GB HBM3E modules by stacking 1GB and 2GB modules 24 high with TSVs.

https://product.skhynix.com/products/dram/hbm/hbm3e.go

Mar 1 at 3:43pmWeb
Show threadRootWyrm 🇺🇦Mar 1

@whitequark but wait! It gets even fucking *crazier*. Besides the fact that TSV means one bad joint scraps the whole part.

Everyone's heard of the big 3 and ASML.
Nobody's heard of Hanmi, Besi, or Applied Materials. Who are all WAY more important than ASML.

Those are the companies that make the machines that saw wafers, place those layers, and *bond* those layers. Yeah. They're the people responsible for the Jenga.