ReviewsToshiba and Sandisk develop 8 Gbit NAND Flash in 70nm.
Toshiba and Sandisk today announced an 8 Gbit NAND flash memory chip fabricated with 70 nm process technology. According to the two firms the technology will pave the way for a new wave of "GByte chips". The 8 Gbit prototype chip has an areal density of 20 billion transistors per square inch of silicon and is roughly five percent larger than the previous generation 4 Gbit chip that is manufactured in 90 nm.
Sandisk says the technology is good for a write speed of six MByte per second and a read speed of 60 MByte per second - about 40 percent faster than the current generation of chips.
Production of the new NAND Flash, which is mainly used for data storage cards, will begin this summer with broad market adoption expected to follow during 2006. Capacities of Flash cards were not detailed, but the new technology has enough room to drive Flash cards from a current maximum capacity of 8 GByte beyond 20 GByte. (THG)