Samsung announced production of first 20-nanometer (nm) chips

According to a press release Samsung’s 20nm-class MLC NAND has a 50 percent higher productivity level than 30nm-class MLC NAND. The write performance of a 20nm-class-based, eight gigabyte (GB) and higher density, SD card is 30 percent faster than the 30nm-class NAND and it delivers a speed-class rating of 10 (read speed of 20MB/s, write speed of 10MB/s). By applying cutting-edge process, design and controller technology, Samsung also has secured reliability levels comparable to 30nm-class NAND.

Samsung Electronics first began producing 32Gb NAND with 30nm-class process technology in March 2009. Now it is shipping SD card samples to customers that are built with 20nm-class 32Gb NAND and will expand production later this year.

Memory cards based in the 20nm-class will be available from 4GB through 64GB densities.