Western Digital Corp is testing and has been successful in developing its second-generation, four-bits-per-cell architecture for 3D NAND storage. Implemented for the company’s 96-layer BiCS4 device, the QLC technology delivers the industry’s highest 3D NAND storage capacity of 1.33 terabits (Tb) in a single chip.
BiCS4 was developed at the joint venture flash manufacturing facility in Yokkaichi, Japan with it’s partner companyToshiba Memory Corporation. It is sampling now and volume shipments are expected to commence this calendar year beginning with consumer products marketed under the SanDisk brand. The company expects to deploy BiCS4 in a wide variety of applications from retail to enterprise SSDs.
“Leveraging Western Digital’s silicon processing, device engineering and system integration capabilities, the QLC technology allows 16 distinct levels to be sensed and utilized for storing data,” said Dr. Siva Sivaram, executive vice president, Silicon Technology and Manufacturing at Western Digital. “
With the best intrinsic cost structure of any NAND product, BiCS4 underscores the strengths in developing flash innovations that allows customers’ data to thrive across retail, mobile, embedded, client and enterprise environments. The high storage capacity will open up new possibility for device manufacturers who cant fulfill orders for larger storage space.
