Intel, Micron announce denser, multi-bit SSD tech

From InfoWorld: Intel and Micron Technology announced Tuesday that they have developed a new 3-bit-per-cell, NAND flash memory technology using Micron's 34-nanometer lithography process.

"Fundamentally, this will reduce the overall cost of our MLC flash product," said Kevin Kilbuck, director of NAND marketing at Micron.

Multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash chips, which are typically used in consumer storage devices such as flash cards and USB flash drives, store 2-bits per cell today. The new chip represents an 11 percent reduction in flash chip size, from 141 to 126 square millimeters in size, Kilbuck said.

The new memory is being manufactured by IM Flash Technologies, a joint venture of Micron and Intel. The 3-bit-per-cell NAND technology is the industry's smallest and most cost-effective 32-gigabit chip currently available on the market, the companies said.

Micron is currently sampling the flash memory and it will be in mass production in the fourth quarter 2009, Kilbuck said.

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