YMTC has mass-produced 232-layer TLC 3D NAND flash memory
At the 2022 Flash Memory Summit (FMS), YMTC officially released the fourth-generation 3D TLC NAND flash memory chip based on Xtacking 3.0 architecture, named X3-9070. Compared with the previous generation, X3-9070 has higher storage density and faster I/O speed.
According to Tech Insights, YMTC X3-9070 has been mass-produced. In addition to being used in TiPlus7100 series SSD, it is also used in HikSemi CC700 2 TB SSD, which is the first 200+ layer 3D NAND flash memory solution to enter the retail market, ahead of Samsung, Micron, SK Hynix, and other manufacturers.
According to YMTC, the I/O transfer rate of the X3-9070 has reached 2400 MT/s, conforming to the ONFI 5.0 specification, and has improved performance by 50% compared to the previous generation; thanks to the Xtacking 3.0 architecture, the X3-9070 has become the flash memory with the highest storage density in YMTC history, capable of achieving a storage capacity of 1Tb in a smaller single chip; with 6-plane design, compared with the general 4-plane, the performance is improved by more than 50%, while the power consumption is reduced by 25%, the energy efficiency ratio is improved, and the cost is also lower.
As major storage manufacturers, Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung have successively launched 200+ layer NAND 3D flash memory solutions this year. Among them, Micron announced the launch of the industry’s first 232-layer TLC NAND 3D flash memory in May, saying that it will start production at the end of 2022. It adopts the CuA architecture and uses NAND’s string stacking technology, with an initial capacity of 1Tb. In August, SK hynix announced that it had successfully developed the world’s first 238-layer NAND flash memory with the highest number of layers in the industry, and had sent samples of 238-layer 512Gb TLC 4D NAND flash memory to partners. Samsung announced last month that it has begun mass production of products using the 8th generation V-NAND technology, which is a 1Tb TLC NAND 3D flash memory chip, reaching 236 layers.
