Tiny new 4-gigabit flash memory keeps Moore’s law in motion.

May 31, 2005

Just when you thought cell phones, MP3 players, and digital cameras couldn’t possibly get any smaller, Samsung Electronics has announced mass production of the world’s highest-density flash memory devices.

Samsung’s 4-gigabit NAND flash memory, designed with the industry-leading 70 nanometer line-width process technology, boasts the smallest single-level cells of any chip on the market, at just .025 square micrometers.

That means popular keychain USB drives, only recently available with 1 gig of memory, will soon see storage capacity increase by up to eight times without getting any larger.

The higher density makes it possible to fit 40 percent more flash memory chips on each silicon wafer than with 90 nm line-width process.

The fine circuitry of the 70 nm process required the development of a new argon fluoride photo-lithography light source to etch the finer circuitry permitted by the process.

Samsung`s newest flash writes data at 16-megabytes per second, a 50 percent enhancement over a 90 nm 2 gb device, thereby enabling real-time data storage of high-definition video images, according to a statement from Samsung.

The latest flash memory was developed in September, 2003, to succeed the 2 gb devices that Samsung introduced in 2002.

Last year, Samsung announced that it had developed an 8 gb flash device that the company hopes will be competitive against hard disk drive vendors. However, no date for mass production of that has been announced.

Increasing density of flash memory is expected to drive digital photography, including digital video cameras and video-equipped cell phones.

Samsung’s semiconductor division, which is headquartered in San Jose, California, announced that production began on its new 300 mm (12 inch) wafer production line on Monday, one month ahead of schedule.

The production line, called Line 14, will initially make 2 gb NAND flash memory at 90 nanometer line width and will begin production of the new 4 gb flash memory devices in June. It is expected to reach a monthly capacity of 15,000 wafers before the end of the year.

Samsung Electronics held a leading 55.7 percent of the total global market for NAND flash memory, with total sales of $3.53 billion. According to market research firm Gartner Dataquest, 4 gb NAND flash will account for more than 30 percent of total expected sales of $8 billion in NAND flash memory this year.

Competition in the NAND market is expected to heat up this year, as Toshiba and partner SanDisk, Renesas, and Hynix, which has a strong presence in China, where many flash memory-based products—including flash memory cards and USB drives—are currently manufactured.