[HN Gopher] Hynix launches 321-layer NAND
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Hynix launches 321-layer NAND
        
       Author : WaitWaitWha
       Score  : 39 points
       Date   : 2024-11-24 19:30 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.electronicsweekly.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.electronicsweekly.com)
        
       | kridsdale3 wrote:
       | When I was in school studying NAND devices (2004-2010) we were
       | quite apprehensive at the long term quantum stability of 4-layer
       | devices.
       | 
       | This (the past 20 years of improvement) is an incredible feat of
       | engineering.
        
         | duskwuff wrote:
         | This is 321 _physical_ layers of silicon in an IC, not 321
         | charge levels.
         | 
         | QLC flash - with 16 charge levels, for four bits per cell - is
         | pretty common nowadays, but that's as far as it goes so far.
         | And stability is indeed a concern; modern flash devices rely
         | _heavily_ on error correction.
        
       | hinkley wrote:
       | Where's the point where you figure out how to stack chiplets
       | perpendicular to a backplane instead of doing lithography 300
       | times on the same chip?
        
         | duskwuff wrote:
         | That's kind of what we're doing already, although the stacking
         | is parallel, not perpendicular. A lot of the innovation is in
         | how the dies are tied together, cf.
         | https://www.anandtech.com/show/9520/toshiba-brings-throughsi...
        
         | creer wrote:
         | This is an interesting testament to manufacturing reliability -
         | that they can go to so many layers and still achieve good
         | yield.
        
       | fodkodrasz wrote:
       | > triple level cell-based 4D memory
       | 
       | What does 4D memory mean?
        
         | matja wrote:
         | Nothing - just marketing. It's their 2nd gen Periphery Under
         | Cell (PUC) device.
        
         | wrs wrote:
         | It's marketing speak. 3D flash (stacked chips) with the control
         | circuits stacked underneath instead of to the side. So it's one
         | louder.
         | 
         | https://www.tomshardware.com/news/sk_hynix-debuts-4d_nand,37...
        
         | K0HAX wrote:
         | Bigger number = more betterer
        
       | Animats wrote:
       | Wow. What's the yield like? Are some bits bad and bypassed during
       | testing?
        
         | timschmidt wrote:
         | > Are some bits bad and bypassed during testing?
         | 
         | Always. All digital storage media depends on error correcting
         | codes and sector-remapping these days.
        
       | Neywiny wrote:
       | I just want smaller SPI flash for embedded :( it's been over 10
       | years since there's been improvement in that space
        
         | duskwuff wrote:
         | WLCSP-8 is pretty damn small already, at ~1.5mm square. Hard to
         | get much smaller.
        
           | Neywiny wrote:
           | But they aren't high capacity. As far as I've seen, we've
           | been stuck on the same XY size 512 Mb dies for over a decade.
           | Even now, Infineon is claiming they have a series that'll go
           | up to 4 Gb but is still at the standard 2 Gb maximum. NOR
           | hasn't gotten any denser in forever.
        
             | duskwuff wrote:
             | What's the use case for a NOR flash that large? Even at 2
             | Gbit, you're probably better off with something optimized
             | for density like eMMC.
        
       | tomcam wrote:
       | Cookie permission dialog is the worst I have encountered in
       | months
        
         | randomjoe2 wrote:
         | Thank god for ublock origin filters, i have all the optional
         | filter lists, I never see those things. EVER.
        
       | StringyBob wrote:
       | What does 'layer' mean in this context? I'm only familiar with
       | planar style logic process nodes which have maybe up to 20 layers
       | (and way more lithography steps to manufacture those layers), but
       | I am completely ignorant of how the term is used for a flash
       | process node.
       | 
       | How many layers are needed for each physical cell? Is it 1,2, or
       | a lot more? Is this effectively 320 physical QLC cells stacked
       | vertically and some planar style logic at the bottom of the
       | stack.
       | 
       | Also, where do multiple pieces of silicon factor into this - I
       | assume we might be up to 16 silicon dies deep with through-
       | silicon-vias, which would mean a cross section of a package could
       | actually have 5000 layers - that sounds crazy!
        
         | brennanpeterson wrote:
         | Probably done with 3 separate litho/etch layers, where they
         | etch and process in groups of 110 or so.
         | 
         | Each of those layers can have a cell, so if you have a tlc
         | device at a 100nm pitch, you have a density of 321*3/(1e-4)^2
         | bits/mm, or about 1e11bits/mm2.
         | 
         | Fun reference: atomic density is 1atom/.5nm, so 1/5e-7^2, or
         | 4e12/mm2 ish.
         | 
         | Not too far away.
        
       | RicoElectrico wrote:
       | What's interesting is that these devices don't need 321+ litho
       | steps; the vertical layers are all defined with deposition.
       | Lithography step count isn't layer dependent it seems.
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/ANHzVOiUwGI
       | 
       | https://thememoryguy.com/3d-nands-impact-on-the-equipment-ma...
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-11-24 23:00 UTC)