Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced it has begun mass production of its one-terabit (Tb) quad-level cell (QLC) 9th-generation vertical NAND (V-NAND).

With the industry’s first mass production of QLC 9th-generation V-NAND, following the industry’s first triple-level cell (TLC) 9th-generation V-NAND production in April this year, Samsung is solidifying its leadership in the high-capacity, high-performance NAND flash market. 

“Kicking off the successful mass production of QLC 9th-generation V-NAND just four months after the TLC version allows us to offer a full lineup of advanced SSD solutions that address the needs for the AI era,” said SungHoi Hur, Executive Vice President and Head of Flash Product & Technology at Samsung Electronics. “As the enterprise SSD market shows rapid growth with stronger demand for AI applications, we will continue to solidify our leadership in the segment through our QLC and TLC 9th-generation V-NAND.”  

Samsung plans to expand applications of the QLC 9th-generation V-NAND, starting with branded consumer products and extending into mobile Universal Flash Storage (UFS), PCs and server SSDs for customers including cloud service providers. 

Samsung’s QLC 9th-generation V-NAND brings together a number of innovations that have produced technological breakthroughs:

• Samsung’s unrivaled Channel Hole Etching technology was used to achieve the highest layer count in the industry with a double stack structure. Utilizing the technological expertise gained from the TLC 9th-generation V-NAND, the area of the cells and the peripheral circuits have been optimized, achieving an industry-leading bit density approximately 86% higher than that of the previous generation QLC V-NAND.
• Designed Mold technology adjusts the spacing of Word Lines (WL), which operate the cells, to ensure uniformity and optimization of cell characteristics across and within layers. These traits have become increasingly important as the V-NAND layer counts increase. Adopting Designed Mold has improved data retention performance by roughly 20% compared to previous versions, leading to enhanced product reliability
  
• Predictive Program technology anticipates and controls cell state changes to minimize unnecessary actions. Samsung’s QLC 9th-generation V-NAND has doubled write performance and improved data input/output speed by 60%¹ through advancements to this technology.
• Data read and write power consumption decreased by about 30% and 50% respectively,² with the use of Low-Power Design. This method reduces the voltage that drives NAND cells and minimizes power consumption by sensing only the necessary bit lines (BL). 

¹ Compared to the previous generation QLC V-NAND
² Compared to the previous generation QLC V-NAND

“We are excited to deliver the industry’s first 9th-gen V-NAND which will bring future applications leaps forward. In order to address the evolving needs for NAND flash solutions, Samsung has pushed the boundaries in cell architecture and operational scheme for our next-generation product,” said SungHoi Hur, Head of Flash Product & Technology of the Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “Through our latest V-NAND, Samsung will continue to set the trend for the high-performance, high-density solid-state drive (SSD) market that meets the needs for the coming AI generation.”

With the industry’s smallest cell size and thinnest mold, Samsung improved the bit density of the 9th-generation V-NAND by about 50% compared to the 8th-generation V-NAND. New innovations such as cell interference avoidance and cell life extension have been applied to enhance product quality and reliability, while eliminating dummy channel holes has significantly reduced the planar area of the memory cells.

In addition, Samsung’s advanced “channel hole etching” technology showcases the company’s leadership in process capabilities. This technology creates electron pathways by stacking mold layers and maximizes fabrication productivity as it enables simultaneous drilling of the industry’s highest cell layer count in a double-stack structure. As the number of cell layers increase, the ability to pierce through higher cell numbers becomes essential, demanding more sophisticated etching techniques.

The 9th-generation V-NAND is equipped with the next-generation NAND flash interface, “Toggle 5.1,” which supports increased data input/output speeds by 33% to up to 3.2 gigabits-per-second (Gbps). Along with this new interface, Samsung plans to solidify its position within the high-performance SSD market by expanding support for PCIe 5.0.

Power consumption has also been improved by 10% with advancements in low-power design, compared to the previous generation. As reducing energy usage and carbon emissions becomes vital for customers, Samsung’s 9th-generation V-NAND is expected to be an optimal solution for future applications.

Samsung has started mass production for the 1Tb TLC 9th-generation V-NAND this month, followed by the quad-level cell (QLC) model in the second half of this year.