Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced
semiconductor technology solutions, announced today that it commenced
the industry’s first volume production of 3-bit, multi-level-cell (MLC)
NAND flash chips using 30-nanometer (nm)-class process technology at
the end of November. The chips will be used in NAND flash modules
accompanied by exclusive Samsung 3-bit NAND controllers to initially
produce eight gigabyte (GB) micro Secure Digital (microSD) cards.
“Introducing
cost-efficient, 30nm-class 3-bit technology widens our NAND memory
solution base to make NAND even more enticing for increasingly diverse
market applications,” said Soo-In Cho, executive vice president and
general manager of the Memory Division at Samsung Electronics. “Our
3-bit NAND memory will support the development of more
cost-competitive, high-density consumer electronics storage solutions,”
he added.
Three-bit MLC NAND increases the efficiency of NAND
data storage by 50 percent over today’s pervasive 2-bit MLC NAND chips.
Samsung’s new 30nm-class 3-bit MLC NAND will provide consumers with
effective NAND-based storage that can be applied to USB flash drives in
addition to a range of micro SD cards.
In 2005, Samsung
introduced the first 50nm-class, 16Gb MLC NAND memory device, ushering
in an era of unprecedented growth for flash memory beyond the
high-performance SLC (single-level-cell) market. Mass production of
30nm 3-bit NAND is expected to significantly raise the portion of NAND
flash memory production devoted to high densities (32Gb and above),
designed to accommodate increased video usage.
Other NAND
advancements, like the introduction of asynchronous double data rate
MLC NAND memory (see separate release issued at 6:00 pm PT) are
expected to also contribute greatly to this trend.
