Editing Flash memory (section)

==Capacity==
Multiple chips are often arrayed or die stacked to achieve higher capacities<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailycircuitry.com/2012/04/as-follow-up-to-our-flash-vs-dram.html |title=Flash vs DRAM follow-up: chip stacking |publisher=The Daily Circuit |date=22 April 2012 |access-date=22 April 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124042741/http://www.dailycircuitry.com/2012/04/as-follow-up-to-our-flash-vs-dram.html |archive-date=24 November 2012}}</ref> for use in consumer electronic devices such as multimedia players or [[GPS]]s. The capacity scaling (increase) of flash chips used to follow [[Moore's law]] because they are manufactured with many of the same [[integrated circuits]] techniques and equipment. Since the introduction of 3D NAND, scaling is no longer necessarily associated with Moore's law since ever smaller transistors (cells) are no longer used.

Consumer flash storage devices typically are advertised with usable sizes expressed as a small integer power of two (2, 4, 8, etc.) and a conventional designation of megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB); e.g., 512&nbsp;MB, 8&nbsp;GB. This includes [[solid-state drive|SSD]]s marketed as hard drive replacements, in accordance with traditional [[hard drive]]s, which use [[SI prefix|decimal prefixes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.convertunits.com/type/computer+data+storage |title=Computer data storage unit conversion - non-SI quantity |access-date=2015-05-20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508070909/http://www.convertunits.com/type/computer+data+storage |archive-date=8 May 2015}}</ref> Thus, an SSD marked as "64&nbsp;[[Gigabyte|GB]]" is at least {{nowrap|64 × 1000<sup>3</sup>}} bytes (64&nbsp;GB). Most users will have slightly less capacity than this available for their files, due to the space taken by file system metadata and because some operating systems report SSD capacity using [[binary prefix]]es which are somewhat larger than conventional prefixes .

The flash memory chips inside them are sized in strict binary multiples, but the actual total capacity of the chips is not usable at the drive interface. It is considerably larger than the advertised capacity in order to allow for distribution of writes ([[wear leveling]]), for sparing, for [[error correction codes]], and for other [[metadata]] needed by the device's internal firmware.

In 2005, Toshiba and [[SanDisk]] developed a NAND&nbsp;flash chip capable of storing 1&nbsp;GB of data using [[multi-level cell]] (MLC) technology, capable of storing two bits of data per cell. In September 2005, [[Samsung Electronics]] announced that it had developed the world's first 2&nbsp;GB chip.<ref>{{cite news |first=Anton |last=Shilov |url=http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/memory/display/20050912212649.html |title=Samsung Unveils 2GB Flash Memory Chip |publisher=X-bit labs |date=12 September 2005 |access-date=30 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224220204/http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/memory/display/20050912212649.html |archive-date=24 December 2008}}</ref>

In March 2006, Samsung announced flash hard drives with capacity of 4&nbsp;GB, essentially the same order of magnitude as smaller laptop hard drives, and in September 2006, Samsung announced an 8&nbsp;GB chip produced using a 40&nbsp;nm manufacturing process.<ref>{{cite news |first=Wolfgang |last=Gruener |url=http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/28504/135/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080323070752/http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/28504/135/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 March 2008 |title=Samsung announces 40 nm Flash, predicts 20 nm devices |publisher=TG Daily |date=11 September 2006 |access-date=30 November 2008 }}</ref>
In January 2008, SanDisk announced availability of their 16&nbsp;GB MicroSDHC and 32&nbsp;GB SDHC Plus cards.<ref name="sandisk-20080107">{{Cite press release |date=7 January 2008 |title=SanDisk Announces the 12-Gigabyte microSDHC Card - the World's Largest Capacity Card for Mobile Phones |url=http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=4079 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219084116/http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=4079 |archive-date=19 December 2008 |publisher=[[SanDisk]] |place=Las Vegas, Nevada |id=4079 }}</ref><ref name="sandisk-20080131">{{Cite press release |date=31 January 2008 |title=SanDisk UltraII Line Picks Up Speed and Boosts Capacity with New 32- AND 16-Gigabyte SDHC and 8GB SDHC Plus Cards |url=http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=4091 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219084247/http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=4091 |archive-date=19 December 2008 |publisher=[[SanDisk]] |place=Las Vegas, Nevada |id=4091 }}</ref>

More recent flash drives (as of 2012) have much greater capacities, holding 64, 128, and 256&nbsp;GB.<ref>https://www.pcworld.com/article/225370/look_out_for_the_256gb_thumb_drive_and_the_128gb_tablet.html{{dead link|date=June 2022}}; {{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/07/20/kingston-outs-the-first-256gb-flash-drive/ |title=Kingston outs the first 256GB flash drive |date=20 July 2009 |access-date=2017-08-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708012814/https://techcrunch.com/2009/07/20/kingston-outs-the-first-256gb-flash-drive/ |archive-date=8 July 2017}} 20 July 2009, Kingston DataTraveler 300 is 256&nbsp;GB.</ref>

A joint development at Intel and Micron will allow the production of 32-layer 3.5 terabyte (TB{{clarify|3500 GB or 3.5 * 1024 GB?|date=February 2020}}) NAND&nbsp;flash sticks and 10&nbsp;TB standard-sized SSDs. The device includes 5 packages of 16 × 48&nbsp;GB&nbsp;TLC dies, using a floating gate cell design.<ref>{{Cite news |url = http://www.gizmag.com/high-capacity-3d-flash-memory/36782 |title = 3D flash technology moves forward with 10&nbsp;TB SSDs and the first 48-layer memory cells |last = Borghino |first = Dario |date = 31 March 2015 |work = Gizmag |access-date = 31 March 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518115212/http://www.gizmag.com/high-capacity-3d-flash-memory/36782/ |archive-date = 18 May 2015}}</ref>

Flash chips continue to be manufactured with capacities under or around 1&nbsp;MB (e.g. for BIOS-ROMs and embedded applications).

In July 2016, Samsung announced the 4&nbsp;TB {{clarify|4000 GB or 4 * 1024 GB?|date=February 2020}} Samsung 850 EVO which utilizes their 256&nbsp;Gbit 48-layer TLC 3D V-NAND.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.custompcreview.com/news/samsung-launches-4tb-850-evo-ssd-priced-1499/30838/|title=Samsung Launches Monster 4TB 850 EVO SSD Priced at $1,499 {{!}} Custom PC Review|date=2016-07-13|newspaper=Custom PC Review |access-date=2016-10-08|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009172049/https://www.custompcreview.com/news/samsung-launches-4tb-850-evo-ssd-priced-1499/30838/|archive-date=9 October 2016}}</ref> In August 2016, Samsung announced a 32&nbsp;TB 2.5-inch SAS&nbsp;SSD based on their 512&nbsp;Gbit 64-layer TLC 3D&nbsp;V-NAND. Further, Samsung expects to unveil SSDs with up to 100&nbsp;TB of storage by 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.custompcreview.com/news/samsung-unveils-32tb-ssd-leveraging-4th-gen-64-layer-3d-v-nand/31651/|title=Samsung Unveils 32TB SSD Leveraging 4th Gen 64-Layer 3D V-NAND {{!}} Custom PC Review|date=2016-08-11|newspaper=Custom PC Review |access-date=2016-10-08|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009170533/https://www.custompcreview.com/news/samsung-unveils-32tb-ssd-leveraging-4th-gen-64-layer-3d-v-nand/31651/|archive-date=9 October 2016}}</ref>