Chipmaker Samsung continues to push the boundaries of Flash memory capacity, announcing today that it has developed the world’s first 64 Gigabit multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chip. The new chips use a 30 nm process technology, and represent a significant step forward in the densities achievable in Flash memory. Samsung says a maximum of 16 64 Gigabit chips can be combined to create a single 128 GB memory card: that’s enough to store about 80 standard-definition movies.
The new flash memory was developed using a new self-aligned double patterning technology (SaDPT) process, which Samsung represents as a significant advancement beyond the charge trap flash (CTF) process Samsung had developed for previous Flash memory chips. Samsung expects to be able to use existing lithography equipment to produce the new 30bm Flash chips, with commercialized production to launch in 2009. Samsung has also developed a 32 Gigabit single-level cell NAND flash chip using the same technology.
Technical details aside, Samsung seems to be producing results in expanding storage capacities for flash media—and, thus, increasing market demand for flash memory. The 64 Gb chip represents the eighth consecutive year that the density of memory has doubled, and the seventh straight year Samsung has shrunk the nanometer scale of flash memory. The company started out with a 100nm, 1 Gb flash chip in 2001.
