Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

A place to give your thoughts on our reviews!
Post Reply
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by Apoptosis »

Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Legit Reviews was recently invited to take a tour of IM Flash Technologies (IMFT) in Lehi, Utah to see how NAND Flash memory is manufactured. Read on as we get into a bunny suit to see how 25nm NAND Flash memory wafers are made and then find out what this shrink means to you as a consumer. That 1TB SSD might not be a dream after all.

Image
This shrink is important as the new 25nm process reduces chip count by 50 percent compared to previous process generations, allowing for smaller, yet higher density designs and greater cost efficiencies. This is great news as that means IMFT will be able to get twice as many NAND Flash chips per wafer. Intel said that performance would be comparable to 34nm speeds today, but that endurance and reliability would be improved. Since devices like SSDs can be built using less 'chips' now you can expect to see SSD capacities increasing in the months to come. Micron even mentioned that 1TB 2.5" SSDs will be a possibility in 2010 thanks to the move down to 25nm.
Article Title: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1179/1/
Find us on Facebook to discover the faces behind the names!
Follow Me on Twitter!
User avatar
Zertz
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 1118
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: Magog, Quebec

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by Zertz »

That's awesome Nate! :)
jnanster
Legit Fanatic
Legit Fanatic
Posts: 100
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:09 am
Location: San Diego, CA, USA

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by jnanster »

IIncredible facility.
Thanks for the cool look inside. :)
ga-z77-dh3 (great & cheap O/C'er from Gigabyte)
i2600k/16 gigs Kingson 1600 (OC'ed to 4.5Ghz)
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 + (lapped, smok'in deal, 38C idle, 65C loaded)
MSI GTX 660ti Power Edition
Antec 900 case (quiet)
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by Apoptosis »

My pleasure. It was a trip to Utah that lasted just 24 hours on the dot, but it changed my views on a number of things. I've always wanted to tour a fab and finally got the chance!

It almost reminded me from scenes from the Terminator movie series where the robots are building robots... It really is that automatic. If it never the automated system didn't need maintenance and never broke down human interaction isn't needed that much in the manufacturing process.
Find us on Facebook to discover the faces behind the names!
Follow Me on Twitter!
User avatar
bubba
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Posts: 4765
Joined: Sun May 01, 2005 10:24 am
Location: STL

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by bubba »

Anyone break a wafer like the tools on American Choppers did? :lol:
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
-Thomas Jefferson
Baggs
Legit Enthusiast
Legit Enthusiast
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:28 am

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by Baggs »

Nanorobots/machines are just around the corner.

50 years for the very first?
gwolfman
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 662
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:57 am
Location: USA

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by gwolfman »

I'm jealous. :prayer: Thanks for sharing.
User avatar
DMB2000uk
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 7095
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:36 pm
Location: UK

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by DMB2000uk »

bubba wrote:Anyone break a wafer like the tools on American Choppers did? :lol:
Those were my first thoughts when I head Nate was visiting one :axe:

Thanks for the write up Nate, was very cool to see in a fab.

Dan
Image (<- Clickable)
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by Apoptosis »

come on guys I'm not that rough with things!

I always wear the ground strap
Find us on Facebook to discover the faces behind the names!
Follow Me on Twitter!
User avatar
FZ1
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4448
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 6:49 pm
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Contact:

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by FZ1 »

And PCPer gets the nod from Engadget...http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/03/inte ... ur-de-fab/ :?

Woohoo...LR now linked for "more coverage"
Joe
User avatar
DMB2000uk
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 7095
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:36 pm
Location: UK

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by DMB2000uk »

Are you in this group photo Nate?

Image

Dan
Image (<- Clickable)
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by Apoptosis »

of course... I'm the fifth from the right and looking away from the camera ;)
Find us on Facebook to discover the faces behind the names!
Follow Me on Twitter!
User avatar
DMB2000uk
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 7095
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:36 pm
Location: UK

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by DMB2000uk »

You took all the fun out of guessing!

But I thought that was you anyway :P

Dan
Image (<- Clickable)
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by Apoptosis »

DMB2000uk wrote:You took all the fun out of guessing!

But I thought that was you anyway :P

Dan
I got the solo pic of me in my facebook pics if you get bored
Find us on Facebook to discover the faces behind the names!
Follow Me on Twitter!
User avatar
DMB2000uk
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 7095
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:36 pm
Location: UK

Re: Inside Intel and Micron's 25nm NAND Fab - IMFT

Post by DMB2000uk »

Pretty cool, they tell you how much the wafer was worth that they let you hold?

Dan

PS. Had a look through your other pics and didn't realise there were still untagged pictures of me in your photos. Wonder if I'll get any comments from my UK friends about the gun one :P
Image (<- Clickable)
Post Reply