Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has announced a 16 Gbit NAND flash
memory chip. The chip was designed with a 50-nanometer semiconductor process technology using a 3D-transistor architecture,
which enabled the high-density memory storage capability. The memory cell size, which stores just one bit of data, was reported
as 0.00625 square microns per bit, a 25 percent reduction in the cell size of the company’s previous 8 Gbit NAND memory
Samsung developed in 2005 using a 60 nanometer technology. The 16 Gbit device has 16.4 billion transistors in total.
Samsung indicated that it plans to begin mass production of the
16Gb NAND flash in the second half of 2006. End markets for the chip potentially include replacements for hard disk drives
in PCs, and for music machine and cellular phone applications.
The company with the announcement reported that the compound annual
growth rate of NAND flash chips was 70 percent from 2001 through 2005. As well, Samsung said that NAND flash memory chip sales
would exceed NOR flash memory chip sales this year for the first time. Samsung expects that the global NAND flash chip market
will see revenues in the order of $10.1 billion this year.
