Seen are Samsung Electronics' ninth-generation vertical NAND flash memory chips. The company said Tuesday that it began mass-producing the memory chips to meet the growing demand for high-capacity and high-performance memory chips. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics began mass production of ninth-generation vertical NAND (V-NAND) flash memory semiconductors capable of storing 1 terabit (Tb) of data in its efforts to solidify a leading position in the global NAND flash memory chip market, the company said Tuesday.

Samsung said its latest product features the industry's smallest cell size and thinnest mold and its bit density is about 50 percent increased compared to the eighth-generation product.

"New innovations such as cell interference avoidance and cell life extension have been applied to enhance product quality and reliability, while eliminating dummy channel holes has significantly reduced the planar area of the memory cells," Samsung said.

Samsung said it utilizes its cutting-edge channel hole-etching technology that creates electron pathways by stacking mold layers and maximizes fabrication productivity, enabling its ninth-generation V-NAND to have the industry's highest cell layer in a double-stack structure.

"We are excited to deliver the industry's first ninth-generation V-NAND which will bring future applications forward by leaps. In order to address the evolving needs for NAND flash solutions, Samsung has pushed the boundaries in cell architecture and operational scheme for our next-generation product," said Hur Sung-hoi, head of flash product & technology of Samsung's memory business.

Samsung said the ninth-generation product has data input and output speeds of up to 3.2 gigabits per second, a 33 percent improvement over the previous generation, to meet the growing demand for high-speed and high-performance memory chips. In terms of power consumption, the product also has about a 10 percent improvement over the previous generation, for customers focused on reducing energy costs.

Samsung said the ninth-generation V-NAND memory chip is a triple-level cell (TLC) product that can record 3 bits in one memory cell, and in the second half of the year, it will mass-produce quad-level cell (QLC) V-NAND that can store 4 bits per memory cell.

"Through our latest V-NAND, Samsung will continue to set the trend for the high-performance, high-density solid-state drive (SSD) market that meets the needs for the coming AI generation," Hur said.