SK Hynix officials who have played leading roles in the development and mass production of a 128-layer, 1terabyte (TB) triple-level-cell (TLC) four-dimensional NAND flash chip. (Photos: SK Hynix)

SK Hynix is mass producing a G6 NAND flash memory chip, making it the first company to do so in the world.

The move will raise production efficiency by 40 percent compared to its G5 predecessors. NAND flash memory chips are in wide use for products such as smartphone storage devices and solid-state drives (SSDs). SK Hynix has a strategy to raise its price competitiveness based on the new G6 products and its share in the global market, which now ranks 5th.

Samsung Electronics is expected to mass produce G6 NAND flash memory chips, employing different technologies.

SK Hynix announced the development and mass production of a 128-layer, 1terabyte (TB) triple-level-cell (TLC) four-dimensional NAND flash chip on June 26. How to stack cells is a key technology in increasing storage capacity.

G5 NAND flash chips have a 95-layer cell structure, whereas G6 ones have a 136-layer structure, the industry’s highest. Chip-making on each wafer by employing the new G6 technology means a 40 percent improvement in production efficiency over conventional chips.

TLC, which is composed of three theoretical spaces, is capable of storing three bits. A G6 NAND flash chip has a storage capacity of 1Tb, stacking up 360 billion cells, equivalent to storing 17,920 Bibles. The 4D cell structure is designed to reduce space and ramp up production efficiency by putting circuit cells below instead of side-by-side.

G6 products can increase the power efficiency rate. For instance, realizing 1Tb capacity needs 16 G5 chips, but eight G6 chips are enough to meet the capacity. Employing G6 chips will lead to a 20 percent reduction in the power consumption, compared to G5 chips.

 
G6 chip products will be used to form a package of 2Tb chips. Currently, packing 16 chips is possible. Packing 16 1Tb chips has a capacity of 1Tb, whereas building such chips is capable of raising storage capacity to 2Tb.

Smartphones with a maximum capacity of 1Tb are now available.
Those with a capacity of 2Tb, employing G6 chips, will be put on the market soon.

A view of a 128-layer, 1terabyte (TB) triple-level-cell (TLC) four-dimensional NAND flash chip.

A 96-layer 4D NAND flash process platform based on the charge trap flash (CFF), developed for the first time in the world last October, was also utilized in the G6 NAND flash chip process, leading to a reduction of installing new equipment pieces.

“Compared to investments in a transition from G5 to G5, those in a shift from G5 to G6 can be reduced by as much as 60 percent,” an SK Hynix official said.

In order to produce G6 products, SK Hynix utilized technologies such as a high-reliability multi-story thin film cell formation technology and super high-speed, low power circuit design.

SK Hynix plans to release G6 NAND flash products in the second half of this year. Diverse solution items using the latest chip technology will be put on the market. Smartphone storage devices as well as 2Tb SSDs for consumers, outfitted with its own controller and software, will be mass produced next first half.

The company plans to put on the market products for cloud data centers optimized for AI and big data next year.

“G6 products will allow SK Hynix to secure price competitiveness and gain a fundamental competitive edge in the NAND business sector,” said SK Hynix Senior Executive Vice President Oh Jong-hoon.