Moving from the lab to production, the technology will provide SSDs with greater efficiency and capacity
Today, at the close of Solidigm’s Flash Memory Summit keynote, Sanjay Talreja, SVP and General Manager, Client Storage Group, showed the world’s first working Penta-Level Cell (PLC) SSD.
"We're thrilled to show the industry’s first PLC SSD in action today. It is a major milestone for Solidigm as a new company, and an exciting moment for the future of storage technology with broad implications," said Talreja. "The opportunity to grow with our customers while delivering even more efficient and cost-effective SSDs is huge for key growth segments like AI, machine learning, and big data."
A penta-level cell SSD stores five bits of data per memory cell and can store 25% more data in the same footprint compared to quad-level cell (QLC) SSDs. The added storage in the same space will allow for future cost, space, and energy usage savings for solid-state storage. This NAND density scaling positions Solidigm well for growth in key segments such as:
• Displacement of hard disk drives (HDDs), on which more than 85% of all data center data is still stored.
Solidigm has seen strong initial market interest for PLC technology from hyper-scale cloud service providers, data center OEMs, and storage innovators. Solidigm’s PLC NAND will use floating gate technology, further proof of the technology’s inherent strength in leading bit per cell scalability.
Solidigm believes floating gate cell design delivers strong charge isolation and very good voltage threshold distribution, making it well suited for “high” bit/cell scaling. Additionally, Solidigm will be able to efficiently scale to PLC because the technology can be manufactured on the same equipment used for QLC NAND manufacturing. Timing for Solidigm’s PLC SSDs, which will be available first for the data center, is pending.
Sanjay Talreja, left, and Jundal Choi of SK hynix, announcing the world’s first working Penta-Level Cell (PLC) SSD at Flash Memory Summit, August 2, 2022.
About Solidigm
Solidigm is a leading global provider of innovative NAND flash memory solutions. Solidigm technology unlocks data’s unlimited potential for customers, enabling them to fuel human advancement. Our origins reflect Intel’s longstanding innovation in memory products and SK hynix’s international leadership and scale in the semiconductor industry. Solidigm became a standalone U.S. subsidiary under SK hynix in December 2021. Headquartered in California, Solidigm is powered by the inventiveness of more than 2,000 employees in 20 locations around the world. For more information, please visit solidigm.com and follow us on Twitter at @Solidigm and on LinkedIn.
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