SanDisk makes 128-gigabit flash chip
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced it has developed the world's smallest 128 gigabit (Gb)* NAND flash memory chip currently in production. The semiconductor device can store 128 billion individual bits of information on a single silicon die 170mm2 in size - a little more than a quarter of an inch squared, or smaller than the area covered by a U.S. penny.
The use of NAND flash memory in high tech equipment like smartphones, tablets and solid state drives (SSDs) allows advances in the full function, small form factor devices that are highly valued by consumers. Shrinking the size of NAND flash memory allows smaller, more powerful computing, communications and consumer electronics devices to be built while keeping costs low.
SanDisk built the 128Gb NAND flash memory chip on the company's industry-leading 19 nanometer (nm) process technology. A nanometer measures one-billionth of a meter, meaning that 19nm circuit lines are so small that about 3,000 of them could fit across the width of a human hair. The chip also employs SanDisk's three-bit per cell (X3) technology that allows the company to build NAND flash memory products with the ability to read and write three bits of information in each memory cell.
