News
Kioxia is leveraging Generative AI for NAND material exploration.
Monday, December 8, 2025 at 03:01 AM
The company is incorporating generative AI into its R&D process to explore new materials, aiming for technological innovations in future NAND flash memory.
Context
KIOXIA Holdings has initiated the use of generative AI to accelerate the discovery of new metals and gases essential for NAND manufacturing. This strategic move, reported in December 2025, leverages the company's extensive historical experimental data. A dedicated AI research team, established in April 2024, is collaborating with materials development teams to identify and qualify AI-suggested candidates for mass production, aiming to integrate these innovations into their NAND production processes.
This initiative is critical for advancing NAND technology, particularly as the industry moves towards >400-layer stacking. Technical drivers include potential metal substitutions, such as replacing tungsten (W) with molybdenum (Mo), and the adoption of cryo-etching at temperatures below -50°C. Cryo-etching is expected to enhance throughput by speeding up the formation of memory holes, which are crucial for higher-density memory cells.
For investors, this development signifies KIOXIA's commitment to shortening R&D cycles and enabling higher-density NAND, which is vital for the growing demands of AI storage. By accelerating materials selection, KIOXIA aims to maintain its leadership in cost and performance within the competitive semiconductor landscape, capitalizing on the increasing demand driven by AI applications.
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