July 18, 2013, Micron Technology released some details of their latest 16 nm flash chips. These 128Gb MLC NAND Flash memory devices are targeted at applications like consumer SSDs, removable storage (USB drives and Flash cards), tablets, ultrathin devices, mobile handsets and data center cloud storage. The new 128Gb NAND Flash memory provides the greatest number of bits per square millimeter and lowest cost of any MLC device currently in production.
The chip is being built as a 2 bit per cell MLC in the same high-k/metal gate structure first introduced in their 20nm NAND devices. The planar structures on the chip are standard flash configurations, and cell structures. The performance specifications for 16nm NAND will be similar to current 20nm parts.
The bit-plane structure is shown in the figure, and the estimated die size is 10.2 x 11.5 mm. The parts are processed on 300 mm wafers and the total potential storage available on a wafer is 6TB. There will be some mechanism for transferring wearout data to the controller as the read margins drop over time. The chips are targeted for consumer-type applications and are rated for 3k program-erase cycles per bit cell.
The on-chip circuitry does minimal error correction as the majority of the error correction for these parts will be handled by a controller (not onboard the NAND). There are some integrated features to improve endurance, but ultimately NAND error management is performed by an external controller, and endurance is dependent on usage model and controller capability.
Micron is sampling the 16nm, 128Gb MLC NAND with select partners now and plans to be in full production in 4Q13. Micron is also developing a new line of solid-state drive (SSD) solutions based on these devices and expects to ship SSDs with 16nm Flash in 2014. For more information, see http://www.micron.com/