The Next-Generation Semiconductor Technologies Chosen by SK hynix: Five University Research Teams Awarded

Review of 26 Industry-Academia Patents Filed Last Year
Selection Includes High-Speed Memory Interface Technologies
Combining University Research Achievements with Corporate Field Experience

SK hynix shared the achievements in semiconductor technology it has discovered through industry-academia partnerships with universities and encouraged outstanding research talent.

SK hynix announced on the 16th that it held the "2026 Industry-Academia-Research Project Outstanding Invention Awards Ceremony" at the Guest House of the Icheon Campus in Gyeonggi Province. Key executives and staff from the technology and patent departments, including Lane Cho, Head of the Future Technology Research Institute; Heesuk Chae, Vice President in charge of Legal/Patent; Jaebum Kim, Vice President responsible for R&D Strategy; and Yeonsu Kim, Vice President in charge of Patents, attended the event.

The "Industry-Academia-Research Project Outstanding Invention Awards Ceremony" is an annual event, held since 2013, that selects and recognizes inventions created through collaborative research between universities and companies which have demonstrated clear technical achievements and high value as patents. This year, five cases were selected through a review of 26 industry-academia patents filed last year, resulting in one Grand Prize, one Excellence Award, and three Encouragement Awards.

The Grand Prize was awarded to a patent for next-generation multi-level signal transmission circuit design invented by Professor Woo Seok Choi of Seoul National University. This technology enables fast and energy-efficient data communication between computational chips and memory. It was recognized for addressing the issue of power noise that occurs in high-speed memory interfaces.

Professor Choi explained, "The conventional PAM3 method can be affected by various types of noise and changes in operating conditions in high-speed transmission environments, which impact signal stability. In this research, we focused on improving the communication circuit design to reduce these effects and enable stable data exchange."

SK hynix held the "2026 Industry-Academia-Research Project Outstanding Invention Awards Ceremony" on the 16th at the VIP hall of the Icheon Campus. Key executives and staff from the technology and patent departments, including Lasun Cho, Head of Future Technology Research Institute, Heesuk Chae, Vice President (Head of Legal/Patent Division), Jaebeom Kim, Vice President (in charge of R&D Strategy), and Yeonsu Kim, Vice President (in charge of Patents), participated in the ceremony to congratulate the awardees. SK hynix.

He continued, "The most important achievement of this work is that we have confirmed the possibility of circuit designs that improve stability in high-speed data transmission environments. We plan to continue developing related technologies by reviewing the requirements specific to each application environment going forward."

Professor Hyungjun Kim of Yonsei University received the Excellence Award for a patent related to electrode materials and device characteristics for next-generation memory. The technology allows for controlling the properties of electrodes used in next-generation high-density memory through a single process variable. It was highly evaluated for providing quantitative data on electrode and device characteristics depending on process conditions, demonstrating a level of completeness suitable for real-world product development.

Professor Kim explained, "By utilizing a precise thin-film deposition process to form electrodes and adjusting only the process conditions, we confirmed that it is possible to alter the properties of materials and devices to the required level. The core of this research is that, rather than continually introducing new materials or complex additional processes, we proposed a method that makes it possible to meet various device requirements while utilizing existing materials and process frameworks."

The Encouragement Awards went to: Professor Cheol Sung Hwang of Seoul National University for a patent on a high-temperature ALD/CVD process for vertical-type SOM cell material deposition; Professor Byung Joon Choi of Seoul National University of Science and Technology for a patent on high-temperature ALD/CVD precursors and processes for next-generation memory; and Professor Jaedeok Han of Hanyang University for a patent on UFS 5.0 and next-generation M-PHY high-speed interface circuits.

Lane Cho, Head of the Future Technology Research Institute, stated, "I expect that the outstanding patents discovered through industry-academia partnerships will contribute to enhancing the technological competitiveness of Korea's semiconductor industry. We will continue to provide active support to ensure that challenging and innovative research can be vigorously pursued in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.