Moore's law walks on
Moore’s law has struck again it seems as Intel’s and Micron’s combined effort in the field of NAND flash memory, IM Flash Technologies, has announced what is the smallest semiconductor technology around – 22nm.
In a nutshell, the new process reduces the size of NAND flash chips, enabling higher densities at lower costs compared to the previous generation. It will slash physical space requirements while at the same time retaining the capacity. This will translate into a significant reduction in manufacturing price of current designs and of course, the potential for doubling capacity with minimum price premium.
The first product to be using the technology will be an 8GB NAND device with a die size of 167mm². It will feature double the capacity of the highest density 34nm part and although this tiny thing will fit into a hole in the compact disc, it will feature ten times the capacity. Naturally, this means that SSDs will soon get a twofold boost, although we must admit we’re probably more excited about the current crop becoming cheaper.
IMFT says the yields are good and everything is on track for production. Shipping is expected in Q2 this year, but consumers can expect 25nm flash memory based products towards the end of 2010.
More here.
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Memory
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