CXMT nears HBM3E mass production despite yield hurdles

CXMT is expected to begin mass production of its first HBM memory, using the HBM3E format, within the next two months, putting the launch before the end of the year. The company began risk production in August, but manufacturing yields remain a challenge as it prepares to scale up.

The main obstacle is the immaturity of its through-silicon via (TSV) technology. Front-end manufacturing yields are around 30%. Data suggests CXMT is attempting to build HBM3E with only 3,000 TSVs per layer, compared with about 5,000 TSVs per layer for Samsung’s HBM2 and more than 8,000 TSVs per layer for SK hynix’s HBM3.

CXMT is targeting an 8-high HBM3E configuration and is unlikely to move to higher-capacity 12-high memory in the near term while engineering problems persist. Specific performance details for its product are unavailable. JEDEC’s general HBM3E specifications indicate bandwidth of around 1.2 TB/s, but that figure does not establish CXMT’s actual performance.