Toshiba Corp. (Toshiba) and Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC), its subsidiary in the Americas, today announced the launch of a 64 gigabyte (GB) embedded NAND flash memory module, the highest capacity yet achieved in the industry. The chip is the flagship device in a line-up of six new embedded NAND flash memory modules that offer full compliance with the latest e-MMC standard, and that are designed for application in a wide range of digital consumer products, including Smartphones, mobile phones, netbooks and digital video cameras. Samples of the 64GB module are available from today, and mass production will start in the first quarter of 2010.

The new 64GB embedded device combines sixteen pieces of 32Gbit (equal to 4GB) NAND chips fabricated with Toshiba's cutting-edge 32nm process technology, and also integrates a dedicated controller. Toshiba is the first company to succeed in combining 16 pieces of 32Gbit NAND chips, and applied advanced chip thinning and layering technologies to realize individual chips that are only 30 micrometers thick. Full compliance with the JEDEC/MMCA Version 4.4(V4.4) standard for embedded MultiMediaCards supports standard interfacing and simplifies embedding in products, reducing development burdens on product manufacturers. Toshiba offers a comprehensive line-up of single-package embedded NAND Flash memories in densities ranging from 2GB to 64GB. All integrate a controller to manage basic control functions for NAND applications, and are compatible with the latest e-MMC standard and its new features, including defining multiple storage areas and enhanced security features.

As the semiconductor industry begins its transition to the next technology node, GLOBALFOUNDRIES is on track to take its position as the foundry technology leader. On October 1 at the Global Semiconductor Alliance Emerging Opportunities Expo & Conference in Santa Clara, Calif., GLOBALFOUNDRIES (Booth 321) will provide the latest details on its technology roadmap for the 32nm/28nm generations and its innovative "Gate First" approach to building transistors based on High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) technology.

"With each new technology generation, semiconductor foundries are increasingly challenged with the economics to sustain R&D and the know-how to bring these technologies to market in high-volume," said Len Jelinek, director and chief analyst, iSuppli. "With a heritage of rapidly ramping leading-edge technologies to high volumes at mature yields, combined with aggressive investments in capacity and technology, GLOBALFOUNDRIES is uniquely-positioned to challenge for next-generation foundry leadership."

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. has become the first foundry not only to achieve 28 nm functional 64 Mb SRAM yield, but also to achieve it across all three 28 nm nodes.

"Achieving 64 Mb SRAM yield across all three 28 nm process nodes is striking. It is particularly noteworthy because this achievement demonstrates the manufacturing benefits of the gate-last approach that we developed for the two TSMC 28 nm high-k metal gate processes," explained Dr. Jack Sun, vice president, Research and Development at TSMC.

"This accomplishment underscores TSMC's process technology capability and value in 28 nm. It shows TSMC is not only able to extend conventional SiON technology to 28 nm, but is also able to deliver the right 28 nm HKMG technology at the same time," explained Dr. Mark Liu, senior vice president, Advanced Technology Business at TSMC.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company today announced it has developed the first 32-nanometer (nm) technology that supports both analog and digital functionality. The company made its announcement through a paper presented at today's IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in Washington, DC. The paper also revealed that the company had proven the full functionality of the 2Mb SRAM test chip with the smallest bit-cell at the 32nm node.

NEC Corporation today announced that it has succeeded in developing a new SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) - compatible MRAM that can operate at 250MHz, the world's fastest MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory) operation speed. MRAM is expected to be the dominant next-generation memory technology as it realizes ultra fast operation speeds, nonvolatility - ability to retain data with the power off, and unlimited write endurance. Verification at the SRAM speed level proves that the newly-developed MRAM could be embedded in system LSIs as SRAM substitutes in the future.