加利福尼亚州帕洛阿尔托 —— 尽管中国竞争对手长鑫存储（CXMT）近期宣布在4F平方（4F²）内存技术设计上取得突破，但美国芯片制造商美光科技（Micron Technology）没有计划转向该技术。
PALO ALTO, California -- U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology has no plans to move toward the 4F-squared memory technology despite Chinese rival CXMT's recent announcement of a breakthrough with such a design.
美光总裁兼首席技术和产品官Scott DeBoer周二在接受《日经亚洲》采访时表示，经过20多年的评估，该公司目前的路线图上没有4F平方技术。
Micron does not see 4F-squared "on the roadmap right now" after evaluating such technology for over 20 years, Scott DeBoer, the company's president and chief technology and products officer, told Nikkei Asia in an interview Tuesday.
相反，公司将继续押注于6F平方（6F²）结构和下一代3D DRAM技术。
Instead, the company will continue to bet on 6F-squared structure and the next-generation 3D DRAM technology.
动态随机存取存储器（DRAM）是各类电子设备（从电脑、智能手机到数据中心服务器和汽车）的关键组件。DRAM以单元（cell）为单位存储数据，单个单元占用的面积用F平方表示。
Dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, is a critical component used in all kinds of electronic devices, from computers and smartphones to data center servers and cars. DRAM stores data in units called cells, and the area occupied by a single cell is denoted as F-squared.
目前大多数存储芯片采用6F平方结构，这指的是每个单元在芯片上占用的空间。理论上，该数值越小，单元排列越紧密，可实现的内存容量就越大。
Most memory chips today use a 6F-squared structure, which refers to how much space each cell occupies on a chip. In theory, the smaller the number, the more tightly packed the cells, allowing more memory storage.
本月初，中国的长鑫存储技术有限公司（CXMT）宣布，在一种被称为4F平方的下一代存储单元架构上取得关键进展，这将使相同尺寸的芯片上能容纳比6F平方结构更多的单元。
Earlier this month, China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) said it had made a key advance in a next-generation memory cell architecture called 4F-squared, which would allow more cells on a same-sized chip than a 6F-squared structure.
该消息导致竞争对手存储芯片制造商的股价暴跌。CXMT是全球第四大DRAM芯片制造商，仅次于三星、SK海力士和美光。
The news sent rival memory chipmakers' shares tumbling. CXMT is the world's fourth-largest DRAM chipmaker, trailing behind Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.
但DeBoer周二早些时候在一个网络研讨会上表示，近期关于4F平方与6F平方的部分讨论不过是“烟雾弹”，因为4F平方架构并不一定能保证更大容量。
But DeBoer said in a webinar earlier Tuesday that some of the recent talk about 4F-squared versus 6F-squared is just "smoke and mirrors" as 4F-squared architecture does not necessarily guarantee more capacities.
他说：“4F平方实际上相对于6F平方能提供任何优势，这有点是个迷思。定义DRAM的是电容间距。”他补充称，4F平方“更复杂且成本更高”，却没有相对于6F平方带来多少实质优势。
"It's a bit of a myth that 4F-squared actually provides anything versus 6F-squared. It's the capacitor pitch that defines the DRAM," said DeBoer, adding that 4F-squared is "more complex and costly" without offering much real advantage over 6F-squared.
电容器间距是指 DRAM 芯片中相邻电容器中心之间的距离。它有助于决定存储数据的存储单元能以多高的密度进行封装。
Capacitor pitch is the distance between the centers of neighboring capacitors in a DRAM chip. It helps determine how densely the memory cells that store data can be packed.
由于每个电容器仍必须存储足够的电荷以便可靠读取，缩小这一间距比仅仅缩小晶体管要难得多。
Because each capacitor must still store enough charge to be read reliably, shrinking that spacing is far harder than just making the transistors smaller.
“当我们考虑将 4F² 缩放到超越我们目前所处的位置时，存在物理限制，”DeBoer 表示，并补充说，基础物理学的极限最终将导致存储芯片设计转向 3D DRAM，而非 4F²。
"When we look at scaling 4F-squared beyond where we're sitting today, there's physics," said DeBoer, adding that the limits of fundamental physics will ultimately lead memory chip design to 3D DRAM instead of 4F-squared.
“就 3D DRAM 而言，它是完全垂直的，因此电容器处于不同的方向。所以优化以及开发 3D RAM 的能力以一种不同的方式进行缩放，”DeBoer 告诉《日经亚洲》。
"For 3D DRAM, it's totally vertical, so the capacitors are in a different direction. So the optimization and the capability to develop 3D RAM scales in a different way," DeBoer told Nikkei Asia.
与此同时，尚不清楚长鑫存储（CXMT）在无法获得荷兰芯片设备制造商 ASML 的极紫外（EUV）光刻机（该设备面临美国出口管制）的情况下，能否扩大 4F² 存储芯片的产量。
Meanwhile, it is yet to be seen whether CXMT can scale up the 4F-squared memory chip production without access to Dutch chipmaking equipment maker ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which face U.S. export controls.
“对于美光而言，无论您是采用 4F² 还是 6F² 进行制造，需要 EUV 的位置完全相同，”DeBoer 表示。
"For Micron, the position where EUV is required is exactly the same whether you're building it with 4F-squared or with 6F-squared," said DeBoer.