The company Micron just introduced it 176 NAND 3D couches. This is a big first. This development would allow NAND flash memory to have higher density and increased performance. It would be entirely possible to produce 100TB SSDs with 176-layer 3D NAND. Therefore, this technology will land in memories and SSDs for computers, but also in servers, telephony and the automotive sector.

What does 176-layer 3D NAND look like?

The 176-layer 3D NAND was obtained by combining two boards of 88 layers each. Each 176 layer die is one thickness about 45 micrometers. Which represents 2/3 of the thickness of the hair. Despite its thinness, each matrix can store up to 30 hours of HD movies (10 DVDs). The dies can then be stacked 16 by 16 to a height of 1.5 mm. Using advanced manufacturing technique, each 176-layer array occupies approximately the same height as we had at 64 layers.

Each layer is filled with a multitude of holes called cells. Each cell is connected to a cell upstairs with metal. These metals of The vertical links number almost a billion and allow you to read, save and delete the data in the cells.

This new type of NAND allows up to 10 times higher density from the current generation of NAND with 128 levels. Which represents a density of 40% more compared to the competition.

What about performance and transfer speed?

In terms of performance, this 5th generation NAND produced by Micron is based on TLC (3 bits per cell) and adopts Charge-trap, RG NAND and CMOS-sub-array technologies. The whole allows you to be 15% better read and write latency from 96-layer UFS 3.1 drives and 25% more efficient than 128-layer NAND. Similarly, the firmware used has been simplified to facilitate the integration of the product into the equipment and the market.

The 96- and 128-layer generation NANDs have a transfer speed of 1,200 Mega transfers per second. This new 176-layer 3D NAND can process up to 1,600 Mega transfers per second on the ONFI (Open Nand Flash Interface) bus. Which represents a clear improvement of 33.34%.

Micron has already started mass production of this 176-layer NAND in its Singapore-based manufacturing plant and has already delivered to its first customers, to mention only Crucial, known for its SSDs. Micron will thus be able to compete in some high-capacity SSD drive models, such as the ExaDrive DC 100 TB produced by Nimbus Data. The 100 TB disk provided by Nimbus Data costs $40,000 Currently.

This new NAND will democratize among others the SSD market from the end of 2020 and we will certainly have other products based on this new technology in 2021.