Micron 3D NAND v6 with 232 memory layers revealed

The Micron 3D NAND v6, which the manufacturer presented, offers significantly more capacity per area than all competitors thanks to 232 layers. This also increases the speed of PCIe 5.0 controllers for SSDs. The Phison E26, for example, can benefit from this.

Micron 3D-NAND v6 unveiled

The Micron 3D-NAND v6 is a new flash memory with 232 memory layers. In addition to more layers, it is said to offer additional innovations and benefits. Greater memory density is currently offered by no other manufacturer, while the new design also makes it faster than other NAND solutions.

Thus, the memory relies on two even towers, each consisting of 116 layers. The whole thing is controlled via CuA (CMOS under Array) from below the actual NAND layers. Among other things, this results in the fastest NAND speeds on the market.

Micron promises 2.4 GB per second with a particularly low latency. At the same time, of course, the data density also increases with the highest TLC density per square millimeter ever produced – according to Micron. 14.6 GB/mm² are on the books, between 35 percent and 100 percent more than the competition.

Products from Kioxia and Western Digital are currently scratching the 10 GB/mm² mark. For starters, the manufacturer is relying on 1-TBit dies with three bits per cell (so-called TLC, Triple Level Cell). “This breakthrough technology requires advanced innovations, including advanced processing capabilities to leverage such structures, new material improvements and industry-leading design built on our 176-layer NAND technology,” said Scott DeBoer, executive vice president of technology and products at Micron in the announcement.

Micron goes full throttle

The 232-layer design of the Micron 3D-NAND v6 enables 100 percent higher write bandwidths and over 75 percent higher read bandwidths. Per die, mind you, and compared to the previous generation.

However, these advantages can be directly translated to the performance and energy efficiency of SSDs and installed NAND solutions. The compact dimensions of the 232-layer NAND give manufacturers more design flexibility. At 11.5mm x 13.5mm, the Micron 3D-NAND v6 is smaller than the competition and 28 percent smaller than the previous generation. I/O throughput also increases by 50 percent.

• News from Crucial: Micron introduces Crucial P3 and Crucial P3 Plus M.2 SSDs

Availability

The Micron 3D NAND v6 is already in volume production at the manufacturer’s Singapore factory and will initially ship to customers in component form, as Crucial SSD end-user products. Information about when the first SSDs with the new 232-layer NAND can be expected is not yet available.