Micron announces the world’s first 232-layer 3D NAND flash memory

Micron said it is working on the industry’s first 3D NAND flash memory chip with 232 layers. Its mass production will start at the end of 2022, the first products based on the new memory will be released in 2023.

Thanks to the increased write density, the chips will offer lower power consumption, higher speeds and cheaper manufacturing, which will be converted either into profits for Micron or lower prices for SSDs.

To achieve this number of layers, Micron placed one 3D NAND crystal on top of another, connecting them electrically and placing them on a common substrate and controller. In the process, some layers were inevitably lost, and the two 128-layer crystals produced a 232-layer 3D NAND chip rather than a 256-layer one.

Samsung introduced 256-layer 3D NAND back in 2020, but has not launched mass production. In the second half of 2021, Micron and Samsung began producing 176-layer flash memory chips. Meanwhile, China’s YMTC will soon begin selling 192-layer 3D NAND.

The advantage of Micron’s product will be that the control electronics have been moved under the chip with an array of cells. This is a CMOS under array (CuA) technology, which all 3D NAND manufacturers have to a greater or lesser extent today. It allows you to reduce the area of the memory chip and put on each wafer more chips.

While Micron does not disclose detailed specifications for new chips. Their chip capacity is 1 Tbit (128 GB).

In January, Micron said it is closing its DRAM design and development center in Shanghai, China, and will focus on the development of NAND flash memory and SSDs.

In 2021, 10 companies, including Micron Technology, posted record profits from chip sales totaling about $326 billion.

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