Samsung to make 128GB NAND Flash Memory Card in 2009

It's out there a bit still but flash memory continues to get larger and will eventually overtake the magnetic hard drive as a storage device. Samsung Electronics Co. has developed the world's first 64 Gigabit (Gb) multi level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chip by using 30-nanometer (nm)-class process technology. A maximum of 16 64Gb flash devices can be combined to make a 128 Gigabyte (GB) memory card that can store 80 DVD resolution movies or 32,000 MP3 music files.

The 30nm-class 64Gb NAND flash marks the eighth consecutive year that the density of memory has doubled and the seventh straight year that the nanometer scale has improved for NAND flash since the 100nm 1Gb NAND chip was developed in 2001. The new flash device was successfully developed through the use of a new manufacturing process called self-aligned double patterning technology (SaDPT). SaDPT resolves a critical bottleneck to forming sub-30nm circuitry by expanding the role that conventional lithography technology plays in the manufacturing process.

Samsung expects to begin production of 30nm-class 64Gb flash devices in 2009. According to Gartner Dataquest, the accumulated sales for 64Gb NAND flash and higher density devices could reach up to $20 billion in just three years (2009-2011). [Bill Fox]