Micron and Intel announced a new high-density flash memory technology called 3D NAND that can be used for storage inside laptops and mobile consumer devices.
In this new architecture, memory cells are stacked vertically within a single package, which allows better performance and endurance. Compared to previous planar (2D) technologies, 3D NAND provides three times higher capacity, with more storage and reduced cost per GB. For the first time, floating gate cells are used in 3D NAND. This design choice enables gum stick-sized solid-state drives (SSDs) that have more than 3.5 TB of storage, and standard SSDs with greater than 10TB. The result is a textbook example of Moore’s Law, with more storage in smaller spaces at lower cost than previous flash memory technology.
The significant improvements in density and cost enabled by our new 3D NAND technology innovation will accelerate solid-state storage in computing platforms.
