Mass Production of 3D Nand Flash Memory Chip, Also Requires Strategic Resources of Tungsten

On April 11, the special wafer production machine of the National Memory Base in Wuhan "China Optical Valley" was formally installed. This marks that the National Memory Base has entered the stage of mass production preparation from the stage of plant construction. The first 32-storey three-dimensional NAND flash memory chips with full independent intellectual property rights in China will be mass produced in the year, thus filling the gap in the mainstream memory field in China.

What is a 3D NAND flash memory chip? In fact, it is what we usually call a large integrated circuit chip. This chip technology is currently mainly used to make solid-state hard drives, and the same technology can also be used to make computer memory. At present, several large state-supported semiconductor technology companies are stepping up the production of DDR 4 memory.

All along, 3D NAND Flash chips have been monopolized by Samsung, Toshiba, Magnesium and other Korean and Japanese companies. The most advanced technology is Samsung. China's technology is backward in this field, and domestic wafers do not have any say in the market. With the rapid development of downstream large data, Internet of Things, cloud computing and other industries, the demand for integrated circuits is increasing. China is the region with the largest demand for semiconductors in the world, accounting for more than 50%. However, China's integrated circuit products, especially storage chips, are almost entirely dependent on imports, and must be independent to avoid being subject to people.

Therefore, the semiconductor integrated circuit is one of the most important core industries in the country, which determines the speed at which the country 2025 will manufacture future industrial upgrades. It is also an industry that the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea and other countries have focused on. Therefore, even if it is a lot behind, it still cannot stop the pace of catching up. In recent years, China has continuously introduced industrial policies and provided funds to support the development of the semiconductor industry, and the market competitiveness of related companies has significantly improved.

It is understood that the National Memory Base successfully developed China's first 32-layer three-dimensional NAND flash memory chip in 2017. This $1 billion, 1000-person team's two-year self-developed wafer is the mainstream wafer in China's manufacturing process that is closest to the international high-end. Why is the research cost so high, and how difficult is the 3D NAND flash memory chip to be different?

The industry first proposed the Toshiba of 3D NAND concept, which is to add another height in the original 2D length and width space, that is, the memory particles are not only arranged horizontally but also arranged upward to form a long, wide and high 3D stereo structure. The use of memory particles in the same volume size greatly increases the volume of the flash memory particle single disc, further increasing the overall capacity of the storage particles.

The height of 3D NAND can be 32 layers, 48 layers, 64 layers and 72 layers. Stacking can look at the mood but the volume cannot be increased. This is very difficult for many manufacturers, and it is difficult to achieve without technical accumulation. So in the past, only Samsung and Toshiba, as leaders in the optical storage industry, have developed new technologies.

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