Jump to becoming
the World’s Greatest
Semiconductor Superpower

The 4M, 16M, and 64M DRAM were ultra-high density semiconductors researched and developed by ETRI together with academia and industry in 1986, and the development of DRAM became the cornerstone of the progress experienced by Korea to become a global semiconductor superpower. The development of DRAM played a key role in transforming the labor and capital intensive export industry structure of Korea into one that is technology intensive. The development was a driving force in the jump to ICT superpower status.

01

The Memory Semiconductor Market
where the First Mover Survives

Semiconductor technology, sometimes called the rice of the electronics industry or the sorcerer’s stone, is widely used in diverse industries and various electronics products. The technology is valuable as it brings about numerous innovations in our lives. This semiconductor market was always dominated by the US and Japan. In the mid- and late 1970s, the semiconductor industry of Korea did not advance at all from simple assembly factories for subcontract manufacturing. In 1985, when ETRI was established, the US and Japan had already developed prototypes of the 4M DRAM, but Korea was a latecomer to the semiconductor development and the technology gaps for the 64k, 256k, and 1M DRAM were severe from the leading countries. The semiconductor industry of Korea could not avoid deficits in the industrial competition. The semiconductor technologies of the US and Japan seemed to be insurmountable barriers.
Generally, the memory semiconductor quadruples in terms of the degree of integration every 3 years and moves on to the next generation, and when the product of one generation is made and sold, its marketability dies out after 5~6 years and the product life ends. In order to survive in the semiconductor market, it was important to become the frontrunner by developing the next generation product faster rather than catching up to the development speed of the leading countries.
This crisis awareness brought together the industry and academic for technology development along with the full support of the government and led to the largest joint research project of Korea focused on the development of ultra-high density semiconductor technologies.

02

The 4M DRAM Made Possible by the Competence of ETRI and
Corporate Investments

In the 4M DRAM project, ETRI was responsible for the R&D general management and technological development support of the design production and core technologies. With the various know-hows accumulated from the successful development of the TDX (digital switching system), ETRI was able to successfully carry out the development of the DRAM.
In contrast to the joint research and development method undertaken by Japan where researchers from each institution and company came together and produced semiconductors using the same process and design, ETRI achieved the most effective R&D by respecting the autonomy and creativity of each researcher.
Research of core technologies were allotted depending on the characteristics of each technology, and the project was carried out systematically so that the individual research of each company could result in product development through the principles of technology exchange and competition. Also, to accelerate the development speed, individual targets were given per assignment to each participating company, which included Samsung, GoldStar Semiconductor, and Hyundai Electronics, and all processes were documented in an effort to implement a systematic approach. All processes of the R&D were evaluated using a point system to assess the accuracy and completeness of each process while bringing about competition in good faith. Cooperation and competition were appropriately implemented. Above all, the research center director presided over the daily morning meetings to inspect the progress of the project. Like this, the entire capability of ETRI was focused on the DRAM development and the enthusiasm and passion of the researchers became a foundation.
Technical professionals participating in the joint development took pride in participating in such a high tech endeavor and came together as one to dominate the global market. As a result, in February 1989, the design and fabrication technology of the DRAM circuitry were successfully developed one month earlier than expected. The following month, the mass production process was improved to achieve an increased yield of 20%. Although this development was a year late compared to Japan and the US, it was a turning point foreshadowing the beginning of the semiconductor superpower.

03

Dominance in the
Global Memory Market

ETRI did not stop there and immediately began development of the 16M DRAM and 64M DRAM. If the 4M DRAM was researched and developed with the goal of narrowing the technological gap with leading nations, the development of the 16/64M DRAM had the long-term aim of becoming a global memory semiconductor superpower as well as reducing the gap between companies to stimulate growth of the domestic industry as a whole.
New companies participated in addition to the companies that had participated in the development of the 4M DRAM, and a total of two government-funded research institutes and 19 universities participated as well, bringing together 1,400 participants in the expansive joint research and development project. Moreover, process facility and material developments were also included in addition to the unit process and chip developments. Finally, in March 1991, the 16M DRAM was successfully developed with completed prototype verification and evaluations. Korea now had the technological prowess to rub shoulders with Japan. Then, in 1993, by developing 64M DRAM that no other country had created, Korea attained the status of a leading global semiconductor powerhouse surpassing Japan.
The development of the DRAM goes beyond simply achieving technological capability over leading countries in that the development also brought about significant economic ripple effects. Semiconductor exports had only reached 70 million US dollars when the 4M DRAM project began, but in 1993, semiconductor exports reached 8.32 billion US dollars, making it the largest export of a single product. Since 1998, Korea has maintained its status as the global No. 1 country in the DRAM field, dominating the global memory market.
By accelerating the transition into an information-oriented society along with the growth of the electronics industry, the development of the DRAM changed everyday life for the people as well as transforming even the distribution structure. To this day, ETRI continues to prepare for the second semiconductor miracle through innovative challenges.