Samsung has just announced that it has started mass production of its 9th-Gen V-NAND flash memory, which offers a chunky 33% performance improvement over the 8th-Gen V-NAND already on the market.
Samsung's announcement concerns the mass production of its 1-terabit (Tb) triple-level cell (TLC) 9th-Gen vertical NAND (V-NAND), which the South Korean giant says solidifies its leadership in the NAND flash market. Samsung has the industry's smallest cell size and thinnest mold, allowing the company to improve the bit density of the 9th-Gen V-NAND by around 50% compared to 8th-Gen V-NAND.
Innovations in areas like cell interference avoidance and cell life extension have been pumped into the new 9th-Gen V-NAND from Samsung, enhancing product quality and reliability while removing dummy channel holes which significantly reduce the planar area of the memory cells.
SungHoi Hur, Head of Flash Product & Technology of the Memory Business at Samsung Electronics, said: "We are excited to deliver the industry's first 9th-gen V-NAND which will bring future applications leaps forward. In order to address the evolving needs for NAND flash solutions, Samsung has pushed the boundaries in cell architecture and operational scheme for our next-generation product. Through our latest V-NAND, Samsung will continue to set the trend for the high-performance, high-density solid-state drive (SSD) market that meets the needs for the coming AI generation".
Power consumption has also been improved, with Samsung claiming 10% with advancements in low-power design, compared to 8th-Gen V-NAND. Samsung kicked off mass production of the 1Tb TLC 9th-Generation V-NAND this month, which will be followed by quad-level cell (QLC) models in the second half of 2024.