'은탑산업훈장' SK Hynix HBM Key Player "Maintaining AI Memory World No.1 with One Team Mindset"

A key figure at SK Hynix, who received the Silver Tower Industrial Medal from the government, expressed confidence in establishing a robust mass production system to maintain the world No.1 position in high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The plan is to leverage SK Hynix’s unique 'One Team (collaboration)' competitiveness to enhance HBM production efficiency and solidify its position as the top company.

Choi Joon-ki, Vice President in charge of SK Hynix Icheon Fab (factory), is posing for a commemorative photo after receiving the Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit from Ahn Deok-geun, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (center), at the "17th Semiconductor Day Government Commendation Ceremony" on the 22nd of last month. Provided by SK Hynix

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Choi Jun-gi, Vice President in charge of SK Hynix’s Icheon fab, said in an interview with the SK Hynix Newsroom on the 7th, "During upturns (booming periods), all resources must be utilized to maximize production volume. By actively communicating with resource-related organizations at the right time of the upturn transition and reflecting improvements, we were able to maximize (HBM) productivity."

Vice President Choi received the Silver Tower Industrial Medal at the '17th Semiconductor Day Government Awards Ceremony' on the 22nd of last month. He was recognized by the government as the key figure who improved HBM productivity at SK Hynix and elevated the nation’s industrial competitiveness.

Choi is a semiconductor expert with 30 years of experience. He has led productivity improvements and manufacturing technology development, spearheading innovative products such as the 5th generation HBM product 'HBM3E' and the 10-nanometer (nm, one billionth of a meter) class 6th generation (1c) process-based double data rate (DDR)5 RDIMM (1c DDR5).

He is the person who successfully completed mass production just seven months after developing HBM3E, setting a world-first record. He said, "Before transitioning from development to mass production, related organizations moved as a 'One Team' to quickly stabilize mass production conditions, forming a solid foundation for success." He added, "Currently, we are pursuing various tasks to increase productivity, including improving extreme ultraviolet (EUV) process completeness, stabilizing equipment, securing available resources, and expanding heterogeneous equipment."

Vice President Choi contributed not only to HBM but also across all areas of DRAM manufacturing and mass production. Notably, he introduced the 'WPD index,' a metric related to the number of wafers processed per day, establishing a wafer production increase system. He also mixed operation of DDR5 and low-power (LP) DDR5 to enhance cost competitiveness, contributing to the profitability of the Icheon fab.

He said, "We managed the actual production capacity of equipment through the WPD index to improve productivity," and added, "For DDR5 and LPDDR5, considering market volatility, we collaborated with multiple organizations to establish an effective mixed operation system."

Vice President Choi is also the key figure behind the world’s first 1c DDR5 development. He led mass production applying DRAM 10nm 4th generation (1a) and 5th generation (1b) process technologies and maximized EUV equipment efficiency.

He stated, "Maintaining continuous quality competitiveness and cost competitiveness is the company’s survival condition. The strength to overcome difficulties comes from the 'One Team' mindset, and based on this, I will contribute to advancing the mass production system to maintain the No.1 position in the artificial intelligence (AI) memory market."

Kim Man-seop, Vice President of SK Hynix (right), received the '2024 Korea Electrical Safety Award' on September 5. Photo by SK Hynix

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Kim Man-seop, Vice President in charge of SK Hynix’s Electrical & Utility (UT) Technology, also participated in the Newsroom interview. He was recognized for creating a safe working environment and received the '2024 Korea Electrical Safety Award' on September 5th.

Vice President Kim said, "As a result of completing a systematic safety management system, we achieved '3,276 accident-free days (8 years, 11 months, and 356 days),' and this award certified our excellent electrical safety management level."

Kim is an expert in the electrical and utility field, having joined the company in 1995 and been responsible for factory construction and equipment operation for 29 years. He also contributed to greenhouse gas reduction through the introduction of renewable energy.

He said, "We will enhance energy efficiency and contribute to achieving the company’s net-zero goals by reducing power consumption of major facilities and expanding the use of renewable energy through AI and digital transformation (DT) technologies. I consider creating a safe working environment as my 'work' and will do my best."

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