Western Digital and Kioxia announced they have jointly developed fifth-generation BiCS FLASH three-dimensional (3D) flash memory with a 112-layer vertically stacked structure.
For more information visit: www.westerndigital.com ; www.kioxia.com
Unedited press release follows:
Western Digital Extends Storage Leadership With BiCS5 3D NAND Technology
Technology and Manufacturing Advancements Enable New Approach to 3D NAND Scaling
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) today announced that it has successfully developed its fifth-generation 3D NAND technology, BiCS5, continuing the company’s leadership in delivering the industry’s most advanced flash memory technologies. BiCS5, built on triple-level-cell (TLC) and quad-level-cell (QLC) technologies, delivers exceptional capacity, performance and reliability at a compelling cost. This makes it ideal to address the exponential growth of data associated with connected cars, mobile devices and artificial intelligence.
Western Digital has commenced initial production of BiCS5 TLC in a 512-gigabit (Gb) chip and is currently shipping consumer products built on the new technology. Production of BiCS5 in meaningful commercial volumes is expected in the second half of calendar 2020. BiCS5 TLC and BiCS5 QLC will be available in a range of capacities, including 1.33 terabit (Tb).***
“As we move into the next decade, a new approach to 3D NAND scaling is critical to continuing to meet the demands of the rising volume and velocity of data,” said Dr. Steve Paak, senior vice president of memory technology and manufacturing at Western Digital. “Our successful production of BiCS5 is an illustration of Western Digital’s ongoing leadership in flash memory technology and strong execution to our roadmap. By leveraging new advancements to our multi-tier memory hole technology to increase density laterally as well as adding more storage layers, we have significantly scaled the capacity and performance of our 3D NAND technology, while continuing to deliver the reliability and cost which our customers expect.”
Built utilizing a wide range of new technology and manufacturing innovations, BiCS5 is Western Digital’s highest density and most advanced 3D NAND technology to date. Second-generation multi-tier memory hole technology, improved engineering processes and other 3D NAND cell enhancements significantly increase cell array density horizontally across the wafer. These “lateral scaling” advancements in combination with 112 layers of vertical memory capability enables BiCS5 to offer up to 40 percent* more bits of storage capacity per wafer compared to Western Digital’s 96-layer BiCS4 technology, while optimizing cost. New design enhancements also accelerate performance, enabling BiCS5 to offer up to 50 percent faster I/O performance compared to BiCS4.**
BiCS5 technology was developed jointly with technology and manufacturing partner Kioxia Corporation. It will be manufactured at the joint venture fabrication facilities in Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture, Japan and Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture, Japan.
The introduction of BiCS5 technology builds on a full portfolio of Western Digital 3D NAND technologies for use in data-centric personal electronics, smartphones, IoT devices and data centers.
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About Western Digital
Western Digital creates environments for data to thrive. As a leader in data infrastructure, the company is driving the innovation needed to help customers capture, preserve, access and transform an ever-increasing diversity of data. Everywhere data lives, from advanced data centers to mobile sensors to personal devices, our industry-leading solutions deliver the possibilities of data. Our data-centric solutions are comprised of the Western Digital®, G-Technology™, SanDisk®, and WD® brands.
*Based on Western Digital BiCS4 and BiCS5 TLC lowest available and expected-available capacity dies (256Gb and 512Gb die)
**Based on Western Digital internal testing of I/O performance in toggle mode for select applications
***1 Terabit (Tb) = 1,000,000,000,000 bits
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Kioxia Corporation Unveils 5th-Generation BiCS FLASH™
New generation 3D flash memory adds layers, boosts capacity, broader bandwidth
TOKYO — Kioxia Corporation, the world leader in memory solutions, today announced that it has successfully developed its fifth-generation BiCS FLASH™ three-dimensional (3D) flash memory with a 112-layer vertically stacked structure. Kioxia plans to start shipping samples of the new device, which has a 512 gigabit (64 gigabytes) capacity with 3-bit-per-cell (triple-level cell, TLC) technology, for specific applications in the first quarter of calendar year 2020*1. The new device aims to fulfill ever-growing bit demands for a wide variety of applications, including traditional mobile devices, consumer and enterprise SSDs, emerging applications enabled by the new 5G networks, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles.
Going forward, Kioxia will apply its new fifth-generation process technology to larger capacity devices, such as 1 terabit (128 gigabytes) TLC and 1.33 terabit 4-bit-per-cell (quadruple-level cell, QLC) devices.
Kioxia’s innovative 112-layer stacking process technology is combined with advanced circuit and manufacturing process technology to increase cell array density by approximately 20 percent over the 96-layer stacking process. The new technology reduces the cost per bit and increases the manufacturability of memory capacity per silicon wafer. Additionally, it improves interface speed by 50 percent and offers higher programming performance and shorter read latency.
Since announcing the world’s first*2 prototype 3D flash memory technology in 2007, Kioxia has continued to advance development of 3D flash memory and is actively promoting BiCS FLASH™ to meet the demand for larger capacities with smaller die sizes.
Fifth-generation BiCS FLASH™ was developed jointly with technology and manufacturing partner Western Digital Corporation. It will be manufactured at Kioxia’s Yokkaichi Plant and the newly built Kitakami Plant.
Note:
1. Not all features have been tested and device characteristics may change in the future.
2. Source: Kioxia Corporation, as of June 12, 2007.
* All other company names, product names, and service names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
About Kioxia
Kioxia is a world leader in memory solutions, dedicated to the development, production and sale of flash memory and solid state drives (SSDs). In April 2017, its predecessor Toshiba Memory was spun off from Toshiba Corporation, the company that invented NAND flash memory in 1987. Kioxia is committed to uplifting the world with memory by offering products, services and systems that create choice for customers and memory-based value for society. Kioxia’s innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH™, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, SSDs, automotive and data centers.