Toshiba has demonstrated NAND flash memory chips fabbed in 19nm process technology.
Toshiba has developed a 3-bit-per-cell 128Gbit chip with the world’s smallest die size of 170mm2 and write speed of 18Mbyte/s.
The chip entered mass production earlier this month with Toshiba and its technology partner, SanDisk.
The technology was described at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco, California this week.
Aimed at applications such as USB memories and memory cards, the 3-bit-per-cell 19nm generation device uses the three-step programming algorithm and air-gap technology for transistors.
"This effectively reduces coupling between memory cells down to 5%, achieving a write speed performance of 18Mbyte/s," said Toshiba.
In three-step writing technology, it writes through rough distribution in the second step, and tightens as well-defined distribution at the third.
The small die-size comes from optimised peripheral circuit structure of the chip.
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