Samsung develops 900-layer V-NAND using advanced bonding tech to meet AI storage demands

Samsung has reportedly developed 900-layer flash memory chips and I'm thinking SSDs could get seriously cheap if this AI bubble ever pops

Samsung has developed a new prototype NAND memory chip composed of an incredible 900 layers, according to a new report. The chip is actually achieved by stacking two 450-layer cell wafers. ET News (via Sammobile) says, "Samsung Electronics recently implemented a 900-layer Class V-NAND integrated system utilizing Cell Multi-Bonding (CMB) technology, which bonds two 450-layer cell wafers into one." The outlet says that the current highest layer count for NAND flash memory is SK Hynix's 321-layer NAND technology. Samsung is said to be prepping its own 10th Gen V-NAND with over 400 layers and this new 900-layer prototype seems to be bonding two of that class of NAND chip together. The challenge here, as we understand it, involves the intricacies of bonding chips together, which include the incredible precision required to align the cell wafers and their interconnects accurately, along with a so-called "warping" phenomenon during manufacture. ET News says the latter was solved courtesy of an advanced Upper Chuck design, which is the tool that holds the wafers in place during bonding. While it's easy to see how this new 900-layer memory will increase memory capacity without expanding the physical dimensions of a NAND chip, the cost implications are less obvious. Taken at face value, two 450-layer chips are required, plus the time and cost to bond them together. Of course, this is all being driven by the insatiable demand for storage capacity of the AI industry. So, cost probably isn't much of a limiting factor, for now. Still, we're looking at roughly three times the density of existing NAND flash memory and the possibility of cramming frankly ludicrous quantities of storage into a very small space. If the AI bubble ever does go pop, there will presumably be an awful lot of flash memory looking for customers, and a golden age of comically cheap but incredibly large SSDs could follow. The catch is that we'd all have to suffer whatever broader negative consequences came with the AI boom coming to an abrupt end. So, there's no easy way out of the current chip crisis. Right now, storage for PCs is expensive but not completely bananas, what with a typical 2 TB M.2 drive coming in around $250 on our SSD deals page. But it is at least good to see that the march of technology carries on. If the economics of it all ever normalise, there will be some pretty cool stuff to buy.

Samsung Develops 900-Layer V-NAND Through Advanced Hybrid Bonding Technology

Samsung is continuing its aggressive push toward next-generation NAND Flash scaling with the development of a new 900-layer V-NAND design built using advanced wafer bonding technology. According to reports from ET News, the company is combining two separate 450-layer V-NAND structures into a unified storage package through a proprietary process called Cell Multi-Bonding, or CMB. Rather than attempting to manufacture an extremely tall monolithic NAND stack on a single silicon wafer, Samsung is increasingly relying on hybrid bonding techniques to overcome the growing physical limitations associated with ultra-high-layer memory structures. The CMB process permanently fuses multiple silicon wafers together using embedded metallic interconnects, effectively creating a single unified NAND structure from two independently manufactured wafer sections. The approach represents an important shift in how NAND manufacturers continue scaling storage density. Traditional vertical stacking methods become increasingly difficult as layer counts rise due to challenges involving wafer thickness, thermal behavior, electrical efficiency, manufacturing yield, and alignment precision. By dividing the architecture into multiple bonded sections, Samsung can continue increasing density without requiring a single wafer to physically support the entire layer count independently. Samsung first introduced hybrid bonding technologies alongside its 10th-generation V-NAND architecture last year, where the company surpassed 400 layers per chip. Since then, the bonding process has reportedly been refined further to support substantially higher layer counts and improved manufacturing stability. One of the biggest technical hurdles involves wafer warping. As NAND structures become physically thicker, silicon wafers can deform slightly during production, making precise alignment during bonding increasingly difficult. Samsung reportedly developed microscopic chuck systems and new overlay correction methods to compensate for alignment and bonding inaccuracies when connecting the wafers together. The company also redesigned portions of the NAND architecture itself. New bitline and wordline structures were introduced to help manage power consumption and maintain reasonable die dimensions despite the significantly higher storage density. These optimizations are particularly important for enterprise SSDs and hyperscale AI storage infrastructure, where power efficiency and thermal management remain critical considerations. Samsung's current roadmap appears to involve a staged rollout strategy. The company is first preparing mass production for its 10th-generation V-NAND products featuring more than 400 layers on a standalone structure. The larger bonded 900-layer architecture is expected to follow once packaging maturity and production yields improve further. High-volume manufacturing for the bonded design reportedly remains several quarters away. Competition within the NAND industry continues to intensify. At present, SK hynix holds the highest publicly known layer count in mass production with its 321-layer 4D NAND technology. Samsung's move toward bonded 900-layer structures demonstrates how memory manufacturers are increasingly shifting away from straightforward vertical scaling toward more sophisticated packaging and wafer integration methods to continue increasing storage density. If successfully commercialized, Samsung's hybrid-bonded NAND architecture could provide the foundation for eventual 1000-layer V-NAND products before the end of the decade, further increasing SSD capacities across enterprise, hyperscale, and future consumer storage markets. Source: ET News