Samsung Starts volume production 64 layer 256 Gbit 3D TLC NAND flash

Samsung announced that it will begin mass production of their 64 layer 256 Gbit 3D TLC NAND flash, the fourth generation V-NAND.

The Samsung 64-layer 3-bit 256Gb V-NAND features a data transfer speed of 1Gbps (gigabit per second), which is the fastest among currently available NAND flash memory. Also, the V-NAND has the industry’s shortest page program time (tPROG)* of 500 microseconds (㎲) among NAND flash memory, which is about four times faster than that of a typical 10-nanometer (nm) class, planar NAND flash memory and approximately 1.5 times faster than that of Samsung’s fastest 48-layer 3-bit 256Gb V-NAND flash. With today’s ample supply of leading-edge V-NAND products, Samsung expects that the industry will now focus more on the high performance and reliability of memory storage, rather than immerse itself in a chip scaling race.

The new 64-layer 256Gb V-NAND provides more than a 30 percent productivity gain, compared to the 48-layer 256Gb V-NAND that preceded it. In addition, the 64-layer V-NAND has a 2.5V input voltage for its circuits, which leads to approximately 30 percent greater energy efficiency than the 3.3 volts that 48-layer V-NAND used. Also, the reliability of the new V-NAND cell increased by about 20 percent compared to its predecessor.

Samsung plans to raise the production ratio of 64 layer 256 Gbit 3D TLC NAND to over 50% by the end of the year. They have secured the fundamental technology that it needs in the future to produce V-NAND chips with one terabit capacity and more, by stacking over 90 layers of cell arrays.