The development of next-generation DRAM and NAND flash storage is Samsung’s forte, with the company reported to showcase the newer LPDDR6 technology at next year’s CES trade show. However, the Korean giant has achieved an astounding achievement in developing a new type of NAND flash storage that achieves power consumption savings of 96 percent. In short, memory requirements for AI data centers, smartphones, and other applications are skyrocketing, and with this explosive growth, NAND flash power consumption thresholds will also increase significantly. This newer technology is exactly what the industry needs, assuming it enters production sooner.
The new NAND flash storage technology will feature Ferroelectric Transistors, which helped to break various power efficiency records
A paper co-authored by 34 researchers titled ‘Ferroelectric Transistor for Low-Power NAND Flash Memory’ was published in the world-renowned academic journal ‘Nature.’ The research began over oxide semiconductors, with Sedaily reporting that these were unsuitable for high-performance chips due to their high threshold voltage. Thankfully, the researchers discovered a silver lining in this attribute, which could serve as a catalyst for reducing power consumption in NAND flash storage with increasing layers and higher capacities.
By blocking currents lower than the threshold voltage, the leakage current could be controlled, and power efficiency improved. With NAND flash, this technology employs a cell string structure where cell-storing data, are connected in series. As the number of cells increases, so does the power consumption. One reason for that is current leakage happens even after the cell switch is off. Additionally, as layer height increases, power consumption for read and write operations also increases.
Researchers identified these disadvantages and introduced a mechanism where NAND flash consumes up to 96 percent less power compared to traditional storage chips. The report does not mention when the new technology can be commercialized, but when it enters mass production, the power efficiency perks will be enjoyed across the board. For now, we must wait for UFS 5.0 chips to arrive in smartphones and other mobile computing devices while keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that Samsung doesn’t experience any unannounced snags.
News Source: Sedaily
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