Toshiba, SanDisk advance flash memory

Toshiba and SanDisk have developed a 4-gigabit flash memory chip that will help camera and cell phone makers pack more memory into smaller spaces. The chip, which is set to for samples this month mass manufacturing in the third quarter, will be inserted into packages that can hold one, two or four chips in a vertical stack, further increasing memory density.

Flash memory has become one of technology's hottest growth markets. The growing popularity of NAND flash has allowed Toshiba and Samsung to vault ahead of Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, which concentrate on NOR flash. The new chip will be made on the 90-nanometer process, a manufacturing technique many chipmakers are adopting to create smaller, faster chips.