Samsung doubles down on 1000-layer NAND for petabyte SSDs as it sets its sights on elusive 32TB M.2 solid state drives (you remember this right?)

Date:
Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:05:32 +0000

Description:
Samsung's roadmap stretches toward 1000-layer NAND designs capable of
enabling 32TB M.2 drives and eventually petabyte-scale SSDs.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Samsung wants NAND layer counts to reach four digits this decade Future M.2 SSDs could expand from 8TB to
32TB capacities Cell Multi-Bonding may replace traditional approaches to NAND density growth Samsung has mapped out a NAND strategy stretching toward 1000-layer memory designs as demand for denser storage continues accelerating across industries.

The roadmap, disclosed during the IEEE/JSAP VLSI Symposium 2026, extends current vertical scaling plans far beyond existing commercial products. At
the centre of those ambitions sits a future generation of storage capable of pushing familiar SSD capacities into unfamiliar territory. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: The route from today's drives to tomorrow's 32TB M.2 SSDs Samsung expects its NAND technology to reach roughly 420 layers by 2029 before advancing beyond 560 layers during 2030.

Beyond that point, the company intends to explore architectures carrying between 900 and 1000 layers within future generations of flash memory. You
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Rather than constructing one towering NAND structure, Samsung plans to
combine multiple stacks through its Cell Multi-Bonding technology approach.

The method joins separate NAND structures together inside one package to achieve densities that resemble a single 1000-layer device. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get
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Samsung specifically discussed pairing two approximately 450-layer structures to approach the effective density associated with future four-digit layer counts.

According to company projections, this arrangement could increase storage density by as much as four times current generation solutions.

One example outlined during the presentation involved an 8TB QLC M.2 drive eventually scaling upward to reach 32TB capacities. What to read next Dell launches record-shattering server with 9.8PB of flash storage in just 2U Teamgroup just launched a PCIe 6.0 SSD that reaches 28GB/s but you definitely won't be able to use it on your desktop PC. New SSD price hikes are rumored but CPU price increases may be much worse

That scenario would allow substantially larger SSDs without increasing physical dimensions, preserving the compact M.2 format many users remember well.

The same scaling approach could eventually contribute toward enterprise
drives exceeding 100TB while bringing Petabyte SSD discussions closer to reality. The engineering problems standing between Samsung and a petabyte SSD Samsung acknowledged that increasing layer counts introduces manufacturing complications that become progressively harder as structures grow vertically taller.

One major concern involves wafer warpage, where taller structures can deform during production and reduce manufacturing consistency or yields.

Another challenge comes from maintaining alignment accuracy across hundreds
of stacked layers, requiring extremely precise overlay control throughout fabrication processes.

Even relatively minor deviations between layers can affect long-term reliability, performance, and manufacturing efficiency across finished
storage products.

To limit deformation effects, Samsung plans to introduce an Upper Chuck
Design intended to stabilise increasingly complex wafer structures.

The company also discussed Overlay Correction technologies intended to
improve alignment precision as future NAND structures continue growing
upward.

These developments arrive as conventional process shrinking becomes increasingly difficult, forcing memory manufacturers toward more elaborate vertical architectures.

Samsung has separately discussed a record-breaking 400-layer NAND generation that could help push AI hyperscaler SSD capacities beyond the 200TB barrier .

The company has also linked 430-layer NAND technology with a future where 100TB SSDs become increasingly mainstream across enterprise deployments.

Samsung will work with hafnia ferroelectrics in order to extend the
practical layer counts beyond 1000 layers.

However, whether these designs eventually deliver mainstream 32TB M.2 drives or petabyte SSDs remains dependent upon manufacturing realities rather than roadmaps.

Samsung's latest roadmap nevertheless suggests the race toward NAND supremacy depends upon stacking ingenuity rather than shrinking dimensions.

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