Micron ships the world's first 232-layer NAND, further consolidating its technological leadership
Shanghai — Micron Technology, Inc. (Micron Technology Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: MU) today announced that it has mass-produced the world's first 232-layer NAND. It uses industry-leading innovations to deliver unprecedented performance to storage solutions. With the industry's highest areal density and higher capacity and energy efficiency than previous generations of NAND, it provides superior support for data-intensive applications such as client and cloud.
Scott DeBoer, Executive Vice President of Technology and Products at Micron, said: "Micron 232-layer NAND pioneered the expansion of 3D NAND stack to more than 200 layers in production, a watershed moment for storage innovation. This breakthrough technology benefits from a wide range of innovations, including advanced process capabilities for creating high-aspect ratio structures, advances in new materials, and further design innovations based on Micron's market-leading 176-layer NAND technology. ”
Leading technology results in superior performance
As global data volumes increase, customers must expand storage capacity, improve performance, reduce energy consumption, and meet more stringent requirements for environmental sustainability. Micron's 232-layer NAND technology delivers the high-performance storage necessary to support the advanced solutions and real-time services required for data center and automotive applications, while enabling responsive and immersive experiences on mobile devices, consumer electronics, and PCs.
Micron also achieved the industry's fastest NAND input/output (I/O) speed1 (2.4GB/s) at this technology node to meet the demands of low latency and high throughput for data-intensive workloads such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, unstructured databases and real-time analytics, and cloud computing. This I/O speed is 50%2 faster than the maximum speed Micron supports on Layer 176 nodes.
Micron 232-layer NAND has increased each die write bandwidth by up to 100% and read bandwidth by at least 75%2 compared to the previous generation. These benefits improve the performance and energy efficiency of SSD and embedded NAND solutions.
In addition, Micron's 232-layer NAND is the world's first six-plane TLC production NAND3. Compared to other TLC flash memory, the product has the largest number of planes per die3, and each plane has independent data reading capabilities. High I/O speeds and low read and write latencies, as well as Micron's six-plane architecture, enable it to provide best-in-class data transfer capabilities in a variety of configurations. This structure ensures that write and read command conflicts are reduced, driving system-level quality of service.
Micron 232-layer NAND is the first production technology to support NV-LPDDR4. NV-LPDDR4 is a low-voltage interface that consumes at least 30% less energy per bit of transmission than previous I/O interfaces. As a result, 232-layer NAND solutions balance high performance with low power consumption, making them ideal for mobile applications as well as deployments in the data center and the intelligent edge. In addition, the interface is backward compatible and supports legacy controllers and systems.
The 232-layer NAND compact form factor also allows customers to design flexibly while achieving the highest TLC density per square millimeter (14.6 Gb/mm2)3 over the history of products. Its areal density is 35% to 100% higher than TLC competitors on the market today3. It also features a new 11.5mm x 13.5mm package specification, which is 28%2 smaller than previous generations, making it the smallest high-density NAND3 on the market today. The combination of small size and high density makes it less board space and suitable for all types of deployments.
Next-generation NAND enables innovation across the market
Sumit Sadana, Chief Commercial Officer of Micron, said: "Micron continues to be the first to market NAND with higher stack layers, enabling longer battery life and more compact storage space for mobile devices, improving cloud computing performance, and accelerating the training of AI models to maintain long-term technological leadership. Micron's 232-layer NAND sets a new benchmark for end-to-end storage innovation, driving digital transformation across multiple industries. ”
The development of the 232-layer NAND is driven by Micron's industry-leading R&D and process technology advancements. These breakthrough technologies will help customers create more innovative solutions in areas such as data centers, thin and light laptops, new mobile devices, and the intelligent edge.
Availability
Micron's 232-layer NAND is currently in volume production at its Singapore fab, first shipped to customers in module form through the Crucial SSD consumer product line. Additional product information and availability will be announced at a later date.
Micron's NAND Center of Excellence in Singapore has been included by the World Economic Forum in its global network of lighthouse factories for its operational excellence in smart manufacturing. Advanced AI tools, intelligent control systems, and predictive capabilities enable Micron to accelerate product development, enhance product quality, and improve yield faster, reducing time to market.
Shanghai — Micron Technology, Inc. (Micron Technology Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: MU) today announced that it has mass-produced the world's first 232-layer NAND. It uses industry-leading innovations to deliver unprecedented performance to storage solutions. With the industry's highest areal density and higher capacity and energy efficiency than previous generations of NAND, it provides superior support for data-intensive applications such as client and cloud.
Scott DeBoer, Executive Vice President of Technology and Products at Micron, said: "Micron 232-layer NAND pioneered the expansion of 3D NAND stack to more than 200 layers in production, a watershed moment for storage innovation. This breakthrough technology benefits from a wide range of innovations, including advanced process capabilities for creating high-aspect ratio structures, advances in new materials, and further design innovations based on Micron's market-leading 176-layer NAND technology. ”
Leading technology results in superior performance
As global data volumes increase, customers must expand storage capacity, improve performance, reduce energy consumption, and meet more stringent requirements for environmental sustainability. Micron's 232-layer NAND technology delivers the high-performance storage necessary to support the advanced solutions and real-time services required for data center and automotive applications, while enabling responsive and immersive experiences on mobile devices, consumer electronics, and PCs.
Micron also achieved the industry's fastest NAND input/output (I/O) speed1 (2.4GB/s) at this technology node to meet the demands of low latency and high throughput for data-intensive workloads such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, unstructured databases and real-time analytics, and cloud computing. This I/O speed is 50%2 faster than the maximum speed Micron supports on Layer 176 nodes.
Micron 232-layer NAND has increased each die write bandwidth by up to 100% and read bandwidth by at least 75%2 compared to the previous generation. These benefits improve the performance and energy efficiency of SSD and embedded NAND solutions.
In addition, Micron's 232-layer NAND is the world's first six-plane TLC production NAND3. Compared to other TLC flash memory, the product has the largest number of planes per die3, and each plane has independent data reading capabilities. High I/O speeds and low read and write latencies, as well as Micron's six-plane architecture, enable it to provide best-in-class data transfer capabilities in a variety of configurations. This structure ensures that write and read command conflicts are reduced, driving system-level quality of service.
Micron 232-layer NAND is the first production technology to support NV-LPDDR4. NV-LPDDR4 is a low-voltage interface that consumes at least 30% less energy per bit of transmission than previous I/O interfaces. As a result, 232-layer NAND solutions balance high performance with low power consumption, making them ideal for mobile applications as well as deployments in the data center and the intelligent edge. In addition, the interface is backward compatible and supports legacy controllers and systems.
The 232-layer NAND compact form factor also allows customers to design flexibly while achieving the highest TLC density per square millimeter (14.6 Gb/mm2)3 over the history of products. Its areal density is 35% to 100% higher than TLC competitors on the market today3. It also features a new 11.5mm x 13.5mm package specification, which is 28%2 smaller than previous generations, making it the smallest high-density NAND3 on the market today. The combination of small size and high density makes it less board space and suitable for all types of deployments.
Next-generation NAND enables innovation across the market
Sumit Sadana, Chief Commercial Officer of Micron, said: "Micron continues to be the first to market NAND with higher stack layers, enabling longer battery life and more compact storage space for mobile devices, improving cloud computing performance, and accelerating the training of AI models to maintain long-term technological leadership. Micron's 232-layer NAND sets a new benchmark for end-to-end storage innovation, driving digital transformation across multiple industries. ”
The development of the 232-layer NAND is driven by Micron's industry-leading R&D and process technology advancements. These breakthrough technologies will help customers create more innovative solutions in areas such as data centers, thin and light laptops, new mobile devices, and the intelligent edge.
Availability
Micron's 232-layer NAND is currently in volume production at its Singapore fab, first shipped to customers in module form through the Crucial SSD consumer product line. Additional product information and availability will be announced at a later date.
Micron's NAND Center of Excellence in Singapore has been included by the World Economic Forum in its global network of lighthouse factories for its operational excellence in smart manufacturing. Advanced AI tools, intelligent control systems, and predictive capabilities enable Micron to accelerate product development, enhance product quality, and improve yield faster, reducing time to market.