As we all know, the direction of logic chip technology is that the process is getting smaller and smaller, so we see that TSMC and other manufacturers continue to advance the chip process, from 28nm, to 22nm, 14nm, and then 10nm, 7nm...... 3nm。
At present, there are two major wafer manufacturers that have achieved 3nm, so the next ones are 2nm, 1.4nm, and 1nm......
However, 3D NAND memory chips are different, manufacturers have tested and found that when the process technology of NAND chips enters 18nm, it can no longer be scaled, and it cannot be said that it can be advanced to 14nm, 10nm, 7nm, etc., not because the technology is not good, but there are other problems.
Manufacturers have found that when the chip process reaches 18nm, if it is scaled up, the 3D NAND flash memory will be unstable, the more advanced the process, the more unstable, and for memory chips, the most important thing is data security, unstable chips, which is definitely not good.
So we see that these flash memory chip manufacturers, after 18nm, are no longer obsessed with promoting the chip process, but have turned to another way, that is, multi-layer stacking, like building a house, the higher the number of layers stacked, the higher the storage density, and the faster the read and write speed.
Therefore, these 3D NAND vendors focused on stacking technology, and after achieving 64-layer stacking in 2016, they entered the high-speed channel of stacking.
Taking Samsung as an example, it will achieve 96 layers in 2018, 128 layers in 2019, 176 layers in 2021, and 236 layers in 2022, and the speed is getting faster and faster. The progress of other memory chip manufacturers is slightly different from Samsung, but it is not bad, and it is basically at the same level.
The domestic manufacturer Changcun also completed the 232-layer stacking technology in 2022, and is the first manufacturer in the world to mass-produce, breaking the monopoly of Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron.
Under such pressure, Samsung and other giants must also want to continue to break through and open up the gap with other manufacturers, which is not Samsung recently has a 3D NAND flash memory stacking technology plan.
According to Samsung's plan, in 2024 it will be the V9 version with 310 layers of stacking technology, and then it will continue to move forward until 2030, and by 2030, it will launch the V13 version with 1058 layers of stacking, and by 2031, it will be the V14 version with 1428 layers of stacking......
However, 3D NAND flash memory to be stacked, it is not as simple as imagined, after all, the more layers of stacking, the higher the thickness of the chip, how to solve these problems, but also need Samsung and other manufacturers, step by step to study.