South Korean SK Hynix Inc. has delivered samples of new 1Tb (Terabit) QLC (Quadruple Level Cell) product to major SSD (Solid State Drive) Controller companies.

The company used its own QLC technology to its first 96-Layer "CTF (Charge Trap Flash) based 4D (Four-Dimensional) NAND Flash (or 4D NAND)." SK Hynix plans to expand its NAND portfolio to 96-layer-based 1Tb QLC products.

QLC stores four bits of data in one NAND cell, allowing higher density compared to TLC (Triple Level Cell) that stores three bits per cell. Using QLC, it is possible to develop high-density products with cost competitiveness. In the new product, SK Hynix says it managed to reduce the memory area to less than 90% of the existing 3D-based QLC products.

Using small-sized planes, SK Hynix also adopted a four-Plane architecture. It increases the number of planes in a single chip from two to four, doubling data bandwidth from 32KB (kilobytes) to 64KB.

SK Hynix said that it has recently sent samples to companies that develop and sell SSD controller and NAND storage device to confirm the product's performance.

SK Hynix is also developing its own QLC software algorithm and controller at the same time, and plans to launch solution products in time to meet client demand.

The company plans to to establish a solid position in the market for high-density eSSD, which is replacing hard disk drives (HDD), with NAND Flash solutions as large as 16TB (terabytes) or larger.