KOREAN NET

From 2012-23, Korea had the most patent applications for ferroelectric materials among the world's top five intellectual property offices. (iClick) *Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution of the above image are strictly prohibited under copyright law.

By Koh Hyunjeong

The country is a global leader in the development of ferroelectric devices, a core material of next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) memory semiconductors.

The Ministry of Intellectual Property on Jan. 18 said Korea had the most patent applications for such technology with 395, accounting for 43.1% of the combined total of the world's top five intellectual property rights organizations from 2012-23.

The nation also had the highest annual increase in applications with 18.7%, leading in both the number of applications and their growth rate.

China was No. 2 (14.7%), followed by the U.S. (12.5%) and the European Union (5.8%). Japan, however, showed a sharp decline of 19.8% in the figure.

Ferroelectric are dielectrics that provide non-volatility by maintaining electrical polarization even without applying an electric field, achieving fast charge response speed through polarization switching. They are considered a suitable material for next-generation AI chips as their properties are maintained even at nanometer-level thickness.

Kim Heetae, director general of the ministry's Semiconductor Examination Bureau, said, "We will actively support our companies to lead next-generation AI memory technology by forming a cooperative framework with related government bodies such as the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and sharing patent analytic results with the industry."

hjkoh@korea.kr