SanDisk Outs 19nm Flash Memory Monolithic Chip

Up to a point, we all want our smartphones and other gadgets to be as small as possible. At some point, things can get to small with screens that are too tiny to be readable and enjoyed on the go. Before our gear can get smaller than it is, today we will need the components inside the devices that actually make them work to get smaller too. One of the components inside your device that needs to shrink is the flash memory.

Flash memory is found inside every smartphone out there and even if we don't want smaller screens, smaller components also mean that your gear can keep the big screen and get smaller and slurp less power. A thinner iPhone with longer battery life sounds pretty good to me. Smaller memory often means less power consumed to operate the hardware leading to longer battery life. SanDisk is one of the largest makers of NAND flash memory chips in the world and a lot of the gadgets you are carrying around today probably use NAND from SanDisk. The company has announced a new breakthrough process technology for its NAND making plant.

The new tech brings to the geek work the world's smallest and most advanced process node. The tech allows SanDisk to build a 64Gb, 2-bit-per-cell (X2) monolithic chip made on a 19nm process technology. The 19nm 64Gb X2 device will start high-volume production in the second half of this year. The solution will use SanDisk ABL technology and proprietary processing algorithms in MLC NAND chips. SanDisk will also add X3 or 3-bits-per-cell technology to the line up in H2 2011.

[via SanDisk]