Samsung is developing 160-layer NAND memory chip to increase storage capacity per NAND chip. The South Korean chipmaking giant has got an encouragement to accelerate this process after a China-based Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. Ltd. revealed its 128-layer 3D NAND.
Samsung’s plan of action
According to sources, Samsung will be using a ‘double-stack’ method to vertically stack its NAND. This is achieved by having holes through its layers and interconnects through it. By doing so, it increases storage density per chip. With a 160-layer NAND, Samsung will achieve the highest in the flash storage industry when successful. This will result in a 67% capacity increased per package as it currently mass produces 96-layer chip. We can see cheaper storage drives with increased storage capacity for both SATA and M.2 format. Samsung sells SSDs under its own brand and sells chips to multiple businesses- mobiles, computing and enterprise.
About Yangtze Memory…
According to its own website, Yangtze Memory started its operations in July 2016 and operates from Wuhan. It designs, manufactures and sells its own 3D NAND chip. The company sells its memory for mobile devices, computers, data centres and consumer electronics. It is not sure if Yangtze Memory can produce this in full effect a Wuhan is where COVID-19 originated from, resulting in city-wide lock-down following the series of tragic fatalities throughout the world. But it seems that the Chinese government had special arrangements made for the company. Meanwhile, Samsung has asked permission from the Chinese government to resume operations.
Other memory manufacturers adding up the competitiveness
There are other manufacturers with their own solutions. SK Hynix started sampling its 128-layer NAND for consumer and enterprise SSDs. This will enable hardware vendors to make SSDs up to 16TB. It is expected to have lower power consumption per GB. Western Digital is developing its own solution called XL-Flash. Exciting times ahead for the desktop SSD marketing
Source: Techspot
