

The Most Scalable Semiconductor
10 snips Sep 14, 2025
Explore the fascinating world of 3D NAND technology, which took memory scaling to new heights by stacking layers vertically. Discover the limitations of 2D NAND and how Toshiba's innovative methods sparked a revolution. Dive into manufacturing challenges faced by industry giants like Samsung and the competitive landscape of 3D NAND production. Learn about the material differences in charge-trap technology and the implications for future storage solutions. Unpack the ongoing race among leading companies and their strategies to dominate the market.
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NAND's Density-First Architecture
- NAND achieved density by packing transistors with floating gates into strings rather than random-access arrays.
- This string architecture traded random access for far higher storage density and enabled SSD-class products.
2D Scaling Hit A Physical Wall
- Two levers drove 2D NAND scaling: shrinking cell size and multi-level cells storing multiple bits per cell.
- Both approaches hit physical limits as cells grew too small to hold reliable electron counts and thresholds narrowed.
Going Vertical Isn't Enough By Itself
- Vertical stacking offered a new dimension for scaling when lateral shrinkage became impractical.
- Simple stacked 2D layers failed economically because repeated lithography and support circuitry raised per-bit costs.