Marketing's a funny thing. Take for example Samsung's announcement that it's now producing 20nm-class, 64-gigabit 3-bit NAND flash memory. Sounds extraordinary, doesn't it? But there's a caveat in small print, and it reads like this:

"20nm-class means a process technology node somewhere between 20 and 29 nanometers and 30nm-class means a process technology node somewhere between 30 and 39 nanometers."


In other words, it's safe to say these aren't actual 20nm parts Samsung is shipping out, but probably something larger than Intel's and Micron's 25nm chips. Caveat aside, Samsung says it's 64Gb 3-bit NAND has a 60 percent higher productivity level than 30nm-class, 32Gb 3-bit NAND, which should help "accelerate adoption of our high-performance NAND solutions that use Toggle DDR technology, [and] for applications that also require high-density NAND," the company said.

Samsung Now Producing 20nm-class, 64-gigabit 3-bit NAND Flash Memory

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today the industry’s first production of a 3-bit-cell (3bit), 64 gigabit (Gb) NAND flash using 20 nanometer (nm)-class* process technology. The highly advanced new chip can be used in high-density flash solutions such as USB flash drives (UFDs) and Secure Digital (SD) memory cards.

“By now entering into full production of 20nm-class 64Gb 3-bit devices, we expect to accelerate adoption of our high-performance NAND solutions that use Toggle DDR technology, for applications that also require high-density NAND.”

“Samsung has repeatedly provided the market with leading-edge NAND flash solutions, including the introduction of 30nm-class*, 32Gb 3-bit NAND flash last November,” said Seijin Kim, vice president, Flash Memory Planning/Enabling, Samsung Electronics. “By now entering into full production of 20nm-class 64Gb 3-bit devices, we expect to accelerate adoption of our high-performance NAND solutions that use Toggle DDR technology, for applications that also require high-density NAND.”

The availability of storage density as high as eight gigabytes (64Gb) in a single chip will trigger widespread acceptance of Toggle DDR-based high-performance flash in UFDs and SD cards, as well as smart phones and SSDs, while replacing previous four gigabyte (32Gb) devices in the market.

Samsung’s 20nm-class, 64Gb 3-bit NAND has a 60 percent higher productivity level than 30nm-class, 32Gb 3-bit NAND. The device also offers improved performance by applying Toggle DDR (Double Data Rate) 1.0 specifications, compared to those of SDR (Single Data Rate) based 30nm-class NAND chips.

Following the production of 20nm-class 32Gb MLC NAND in April, Samsung expands its product offerings at the leading-edge 20nm-class process node with the introduction of the 20nm-class 64Gb 3-bit NAND.