Micron samples new MLC and SLC NAND with exceptional lifespan

Micron Technology is keeping the two fabrication facilities that it co-owns with Intel busy. According to a report by eWeek, the company has announced that it is currently using them to manufacture two improved types of NAND chips for use in flash devices.

The first is what the company calls an MLC enterprise NAND chip. What is different about Micron's MLC chips is the fact that they are capable of achieving some 30,000 write-cycles. Spokesperson Kirstin Bordner noted that this represents a six-fold increase in the number of writes compared with current-generation MLC NAND. On the SLC front, Micron has also introduced a 34-nanometer SLC NAND that is capable of 300,000 write cycles, or a threefold increase over the highest--so far--in the industry.

Micron says the new NAND chips are currently sampling and expected to be in volume production in early-2010. Unless other flash memory makers have similar aces up their sleeves, 2010 could prove to be a good year for Micron.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at eWeek

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