Kioxia and Sandisk introduce faster QLC 3D flash

Kioxia Corporation and Sandisk Corporation have introduced a new 9th-generation, high-performance 2 Tb QLC 3D flash memory technology built for the rising storage needs of AI-driven infrastructure. The companies said the design is intended to help storage keep pace with AI workloads while supporting more capital-efficient manufacturing.

The technology uses the companies’ CMOS directly Bonded to Array (CBA) architecture, pairing an advanced CMOS wafer with a proven memory-array platform and additional design and device improvements. Compared with the previous 8th-generation 2 Tb QLC, the new flash delivers higher write and read bandwidth through a 6-plane architecture and performance enhancements, along with better write and read power efficiency. It also reaches a NAND interface speed of 4.8 Gb/s, a 33% improvement over 8th-generation devices.