Elpida Memory, a leading global supplier of dynamic random access memory, has announced that as of the end of July it had started sample shipments of the smallest chip now available in the DRAM semiconductor memory industry. Elpida completed development of its 25nm  manufacturing process in May and has begun to apply the process to commercial production.

The first chips to be made using 25nm fabrication process is 2Gb DDR3 DRAM capable of operating at 1866MHz and supports 1.35V and 1.5V voltages. A 25nm 4Gb DDR3 memory chip is expected to become commercially available by the end of 2011.

Special features of the 25nm SDRAM include lower current usage (roughly 15% less during operation, 20% less when on standby) compared with Elpida's current advanced process 30nm-generation products and one of the highest data transfer rates in the industry.

These 25nm-process products will be used for PC and server applications. The process will also be used to develop applications of Elpida's Mobile RAM for use in various kinds of mobile devices, starting with the growth areas of smart phones and tablet PCs. Additional probable applications include mobile phones, smart phones, tablet devices, ultra-thin notebook PCs, game consoles, flat screen TVs, set-top boxes and other kinds of digital consumer electronics.

Tags: Elpida, 25nm, DRAM, DDR3