Info What are the current (and future) die capacities for 96L 3D NAND?

[cbn]

So far here is what I have found for 96L 3D NAND:

1. Samsung = 256Gb 3D TLC (found in 970 Evo Plus)

2. Toshiba/Western Digital = 256Gb 3D TLC, 512Gb 3D TLC (found in XG6), 1 Tb 3D TLC/1.333 3D QLC ---> https://www.anandtech.com/show/13102/western-digital-begins-to-sample-133-tbit-96layer-3d-qlc-nand

3. IMFT = ? (Crucial BX500 960GB uses 96L 3D TLC whereas Crucial BX500 480GB/240GB/120GB uses 64L 3D TLC)

The 96L memory does increase the number of die per wafer (the die is smaller), but we don't know how many more per wafer.

4. SK Hynix = 512Gb 3D TLC and 1Tb 3D TLC ---> https://www.anandtech.com/show/13573/sk-hynix-launches-96-layer-nand-and-discloses-qlc-plans (unclear what the capacity of the 96L 3D QLC parts would be? 1.333 Tb 3D QLC?)

 

[cbn]

Any of the manufacturers coming out with a small die 3D QLC?

 

[bononos]

Are more layers better or worse for reliability for TLC/QLC?

 

[cbn]

SK Hynix 1Tb 3D QLC for 96L:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/14318/sk-hynix-begins-sampling-of-96-layer-1-tb-qlc-nand

In a press release sent out this week, SK Hynix announced that it has started sampling the company's long-awaited 1 Tb 96-layer QLC NAND flash memory The new 1 Tb chip will enable SSD makers to build even higher capacity drives, taking advantage of QLC's higher bit density to bring down storage costs. Silicon Motion has already started development of turn-key SSDs featuring the new type of memory, whereas SK Hynix itself is working on its own datacenter drives based on QLC. SSDs using the new devices will be available sometime next year.

SK Hynix’s 1 Tb 3D QLC is based on charge trap flash (CTF) design with a peripheral circuits under cells (PUC) architecture that places logic (address decoding, page buffers, etc.) under the memory layers to reduce the memory's die size. The manufacturer says that usage of this architecture enabled it to reduce die area of the chip by over 10% when compared to competing 1 Tb 3D QLC NAND devices. Officially, SK Hynix calls its CTF + PUC NAND "4D NAND".

More info on their plans for data center usage of QLC:

SK Hynix itself is also developing its own enterprise-grade SSDs based on 3D QLC NAND as well as an in-house designed controller/firmware. The company isn't providing additional details, but expects to release these drives sometimes next year. SK Hynix believes that its eSSDs powered by 3D QLC NAND will compete against high-capacity HDDs in datacenters.

“We plan to launch our own QLC-based SSD from next year when demand for enterprise QLC NAND is expected to become meaningful,” said Han Joo Na, SK Hynix VP and head of NAND development strategy office. “In particular, we intend to establish a solid position in the market for high-density eSSD, which is replacing hard disk drives (HDD), with NAND Flash solutions as large as 16TB (terabytes) or larger.”​

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[cbn]

After doing the Sequential write comparison in this post I now think that (it is probable) 96L IMFT has a 1536Gb TLC die (which converts to a 2048Gb QLC die).

And this die is currently being used in the 960GB Crucial BX500.

However, such a capacity for 96L would result in a fairly large die (~230mm2) unless IMFT decided to go below 20nm for lithography.

 

[cbn]

Here is recent announcement about silicon Motion's SM3282:

http://www.siliconmotion.com/A6.1.Detail_News.php?sn=255

Notice the following statement:

The new SM3282 with on-chip USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface provides a complete single-chip hardware and software solution supporting the USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) and 2 NAND channels with 4 CE (Chip Enables) per channel, enabling up to two terabytes of storage with the latest generation of 96-layer QLC NAND.

2TB from 8 chips means each 96L die is 2048Gb 3D QLC.