According to DigiTimes reports, Samsung Electronics plans to produce the 9th generation of V-NAND flash memory next year, will follow the double stack architecture, more than 300 layers.
This will put Samsung ahead of SK Hynix, which plans to mass-produce 321-layer NAND flash with a three-layer stack architecture in the first half of 2025, the report said. Samsung first introduced a dual-layer stack architecture for its 7th-generation V-NAND flash chips back in 2020.
▲ Source Samsung
Note: Double stack architecture refers to the production of a 3D NAND stack on 300mm wafers, and then build another stack on top of the first stack.
Samsung’s upcoming ultra 300-layer 9th generation V-NAND will increase the storage density produced on a single wafer, which will help reduce the cost of SSDs.
As a competitor, SK Hynix’s triple-stack architecture creates three different sets of 3D NAND layers, which will increase the number of production steps and the amount of raw materials used, with the aim of maximizing yields.
According to a report in the Seoul Economic Daily, the industry believes that Samsung is expected to adopt a three-layer stack architecture for its 10th-generation 430-layer 3D NAND after launching its 9th-generation 3D NAND. The newspaper cited industry sources as saying that if the number of 3D NAND layers exceeds 400, the amount of raw materials and the cost of wafers will also rise, while also ensuring production.
At the “2022 Samsung Technology Day” held in October last year, Samsung presented its long-term vision of increasing the number of layers to 1,000 by 2030.
