Asianometry The Evolution of Flash Memory
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Aug 17, 2025 Explore the incredible journey of flash memory, witnessing its price plunge from $80,000 to just two cents per gigabyte. Discover how the floating gate transistor revolutionized storage and how NAND flash technology emerged as a dominant player. Learn about the structural differences between NOR and NAND, and how these distinctions shape efficiency and scalability. Highlights include key milestones and innovations that propelled NAND into the spotlight, transforming both the storage industry and consumer technology.
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NOR's Early Role And Tradeoffs
- Intel's ETOX (NOR) used hot electron injection and targeted BIOS and portable device code storage.
- NOR offered random access but larger cells and higher cost compared to later NAND.
NAND Trades Speed For Density
- NAND ties many cells into serial strings to save area, trading random access for density.
- That design forces block erases and serial reads but enables far more capacity per wafer.
SanDisk's System-Level Fix
- SanDisk (SunDisk) combined flash dies with a controller and ECC to manage wear and errors.
- That system-level approach enabled reliable SSD-like devices for consumer use.