Micron and Intel Announce 3D Nand Flash Chips

Micron and Intel have announced that they have sent the first samples of 3d-nand flash chips to manufacturers and that production of the stacked flash chips will get underway later this year. The 3D flash chips enable SSDs with storage capacities of 10TB.

Intel announced last year that it was working with Micron on 3d-nand chips. Memory cells are not only placed next to each other, but also on top of each other. The design of the two chip companies contains 32 layers, good for a capacity of 256 gigabits or 32GB with mlc-nand chips. If you opt for tlc flash chips, the capacity increases to 48GB or 384 gigabit.

Micron and Intel state that the new 3D flash chip design will allow 10TB or more of storage capacity in a normal SSD. A USB stick could house about 3TB. In addition to the increased capacity, the two companies argue that the chips are also cheaper to manufacture, which could reduce flash storage costs. In addition, within a package, the various dies can be switched on or off independently of each other, with positive consequences for the power consumption in standby or at low load.

Both companies say they have now started production of 3d-nand-flash chips. The first products should be on the market at the end of this year. Samples have also already been sent to partners from Intel and Micron.