Samsung has announced the mass production of industry’s first 256-gigabit (Gb), three-dimensional (3D) Vertical NAND (V-NAND) flash memory. Samsung says the new chip is based on 48 layers of 3-bit MLC arrays that make it a perfect fit for SSDs and will pave way for larger capacity “multi-terabyte” SSDs.
The third generation V-NAND chip now enables 32GB of memory storage on a single die, making it double the capacity of existing SSDs and consumes 30 percent lesser power and 40 percent improved performance over the 32-layer solution.
The new V-NAND uses 3D Charge Trap Flash (CTF) structure in which the cell arrays are stacked vertically to form a 48-storied mass that is electrically connected through some 1.8 billion channel holes punching through the arrays thanks to a special etching technology. In total, each chip contains over 85.3 billion cells. They each can store 3 bits of data, resulting 256 billion bits of data, in other words, 256Gb on a chip no larger than the tip of a finger.
Samsung will produce the new V-NAND for the rest of the year with an aim to mass adopt SSDs with higher densities at affordable price points.
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