Memory maker Micron's Crucial SSD is the first to feature chips with the all-new 176-layer 3D NAND technology. It is interesting for those who are interested in the details of memory performance, including read/write latency, die size, and die density. Who isn't?

Seriously, Micron's new 3D NAND technology is interesting to all of us: for one thing, it is significantly faster than the previous 128- and 96-layer 3D NAND, with read and write times of 25% and 35%, respectively. 176-layer die also has a current The 176-layer die is also 30% smaller than the current "best-in-class," allowing Micron to fit more 3D NAND into a smaller package, allowing Micron to put more gigabytes on a single chip.

As solid state storage sees a sort of second coming with the release of the new Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles, higher performance NAND could make a big difference in PC gaming. Especially if Microsoft can port its impressive quick resume feature to Windows and fast SSDs.

This is Micron's 5th generation 3D NAND, another major departure for the company. Micron, like Intel, previously relied on floating gate technology, but switched to replacement gate technology with its 4th generation 3D NAND. The company's 5th generation 3D NAND continues that trend by using a blend of CMOS under-array (CuA) designs with charge trap (the most common approach across the industry) cells, which has helped the company gain an edge.

If you really want to know the details, you can read the 3D NAND white paper here [PDF warning].

So what can we expect from the new memory? Initially, we will see 176 layers of NAND in Crucial's client drives. [But there is definitely room for the Crucial Px NVMe M.2 series to offer faster, higher capacity drives. The top-of-the-line drive currently offered is a PCIe 3.0 P5, built with Micron's own controller and using 96-layer 3D NAND.

Micron's 128-layer 3D NAND has been used in only a handful of applications in this space, so it is likely that 176-layer NAND will actually take the torch from many 96-layer NAND products. Still, it is unlikely that we will see an immediate move to adopt 176-layer 3D NAND, and it will probably be some time before the process is equivalent and can be shipped in volume.