Toshiba unveils 48 layer 3D stacked cell structure flash memory

Toshiba has unveiled the latest generation of BiCS FLASH, its 3D stacked cell structure flash memory, a 256Gbit 48 layer device with triple level cell technology.

Scott Nelson, senior vice president of Toshiba America Electronic Components' memory business unit said, "[This announcement is] significant in that we are enabling a competitive, smooth migration to 3D flash memory – to support the storage market's demand for ever-increasing densities."

The 48 layer stacking process reportedly surpasses the capacity of 2D NAND flash, while increasing write / erase reliability endurance and boosting write speeds.

The 256Gbit device would find application in products ranging from consumer and enterprise solid state drives (SSDs) to smartphones and memory cards.

Following the announcement of BiCS FlASH technology in June 2007, Toshiba had continued to optimise the technology.

In a bid to meet the growth in demand for flash memory, the company is developing a product portfolio that focused on large capacity applications, such as SSDs.

According to Nelson, from day one, Toshiba's strategy had been to extend its floating gate technology, which features the world's smallest 15nm 128Gbit die.

Meanwhile, during its Q2 call SanDisk said it expected 3D NAND to account for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of industry production by the end of 2016, with its output towards the low end of that range.

Samsung had been the early leader in mass-production of 3D NAND, via 32-layer chips.

Meanwhile, Intel and Micron, which showed off 384Gb tri-level 3D NAND chip in March, which they claim had cost / efficiency edge, more recently, unveiled 3D XPoint, a next-gen memory technology.

It is said to be up to 1,000 times faster than NAND, and 10x denser than DRAM, while the price and performance are both said to be between NAND and DRAM.

In a separate development, SanDisk had extended its IP licensing deal with NAND rival SK Hynix to 2023. Hynix would make license and royalty payments over the deal's lifetime.

The companies had also settled a trade secret theft suit filed by SanDisk against Hynix, and signed a deal for supply DRAM for SanDisk products by Hynix.