13.4 A 512Gb 3-bit/Cell 3D 6th-Generation V-NAND Flash Memory with 82MB/s Write Throughput and 1.2Gb/s Interface

Data storage is one of the hottest discussion topics in today’s connected world. The amount of data growth is expected to be exponential, while budget and space remain constricted. Since the transformation of storage device from planar NAND to 3D V-NAND [1], the areal density of semiconductor storage devices has continuously evolved and has surpassed the density of magnetic hard drives. By providing the largest storage capacity in the smallest footprint, 3D V-NAND has been leading the data center revolution in recent years. However, 3D-technology scaling faces several technical challenges [2]. (1) As the number of WL stacks increases the channel-hole etch process becomes a limit, since the total WL-mold height increases. (2) Interference between cells increases since the distance between WLs becomes smaller. (3) Faster data transfer speeds are required to support higher IO bandwidth.