Western Digital Announces World's First 64-Layer 3D NAND Technology

[btarunr]

Western Digital Corp. today announced that it has successfully developed its next generation 3D NAND technology, BiCS3, with 64 layers of vertical storage capability. Pilot production of the new technology has commenced in the Yokkaichi, Japan joint venture facilities and initial output is expected later this year. Western Digital expects meaningful commercial volumes of BiCS3 in the first half of calendar 2017.

"The launch of the next generation 3D NAND technology based on our industry-leading 64 layer architecture reinforces our leadership in NAND flash technology," said Dr. Siva Sivaram, executive vice president, memory technology, Western Digital. "BiCS3 will feature the use of 3-bits-per-cell technology along with advances in high aspect ratio semiconductor processing to deliver higher capacity, superior performance and reliability at an attractive cost. Together with BiCS2, our 3D NAND portfolio has broadened significantly, enhancing our ability to address a full spectrum of customer applications in retail, mobile and data center."

BiCS3, which has been developed jointly with Western Digital's technology and manufacturing partner Toshiba, will be initially deployed in 256 gigabit capacity and will be available in a range of capacities up to half a terabit on a single chip. Western Digital expects volume shipments of BiCS3 for the retail market in the fourth calendar quarter of 2016 and to begin OEM sampling this quarter. Shipments of the company's previous generation 3D NAND technology, BiCS2, continue to customers in retail and OEM.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Nobody99]

And I thought 3D NAND meant saying goodbye to TLC.

 

[Prima.Vera]

Why is everybody so freaked out about TLC anyways?

 

[alucasa]

Well, everyone's freaked out by something, let that be CPU or GPU, or just a random bug on your desk.

So, why not TLC?

 

[Hood]

Why is everybody so freaked out about TLC anyways?

Probably because early examples all had low performance and a short lifespan, compared to MLC. Now these faults are somewhat mitigated by DRAM cache, better controller chips, wear leveling algorithms, firmware optimization, etc, but most TLC drives suffer a dramatic slowdown during sustained writes - using DRAM for cache just slightly delays the inevitable drop in speed. The real attraction is the amazingly low price. They still have the low latency that makes an SSD feel much faster than a hard drive, even if their sustained write speed isn't much better.

 

[Prima.Vera]

Probably because early examples all had low performance and a short lifespan, compared to MLC. Now these faults are somewhat mitigated by DRAM cache, better controller chips, wear leveling algorithms, firmware optimization, etc, but most TLC drives suffer a dramatic slowdown during sustained writes - using DRAM for cache just slightly delays the inevitable drop in speed. The real attraction is the amazingly low price. They still have the low latency that makes an SSD feel much faster than a hard drive, even if their sustained write speed isn't much better.

I donno what to say. My Samsung EVO is still kicking hard after all those years.

 

[alucasa]

My kingston 64gb SSD that's about 5 years old is still kicking. Of course, it doesn't produce the OMFG numbers for benchmarks but it's still far faster than a traditional HDD.

I donna what to say.

 

[theeldest]

And I thought 3D NAND meant saying goodbye to TLC.

3D actually means we'll see more TLC. The switch from planar to 3D let the manufacturers go from 1x nm cell sizes to 4x nm cells. The number of electrons per cell went from ~10 to 100-1000 with the same change.

So the disadvantages of TLC are mitigated by using larger cells that allow higher voltages for writes (faster) and much higher endurance due to the larger number of electrons.

A few manufacturers are already talking about QLC for future 3D products. I'd expect QLC on 3D to be similar to TLC on planar processes.

 

[Hood]

I donno what to say. My Samsung EVO is still kicking hard after all those years.

Samsung is a special case, they are highly optimized, with binned NAND, custom controller and firmware, and they're almost twice as expensive as budget TLC drives.

 

[R-T-B]

Why is everybody so freaked out about TLC anyways?

This. It's reliability faults were basically eliminated by 3d NAND.

 

[Nobody99]

3D NAND offers more layers which means you can use bigger lithography which in turn offers higher endurance and can more easily accomodate 3 bits per cell, so the real question is what is better MLC&smaller lithography or TLC&higher lithography? I vote MLC&smaller lithography.

 

[theeldest]

<snip> so the real question is what is better MLC&smaller lithography or TLC&higher lithography? I vote MLC&smaller lithography.

Good thing your vote doesn't count, then. ;-)

 

[Aquinus]

Anything that drives SSD prices down even further. I'm wanting a 512GB or 1TB SSD at some point in the future to replace my aging 2x120GBs.