This week, Samsung presented its vision for next-generation memory and storage solutions both for AI and general-purpose applications at the Future of Memory and Storage (FMS) 2026 conference. The company introduced zHBM, zNAND-O, and BV-NAND technologies at the event, and while they are aimed at very different applications, they share one common ingredient: they all rely on wafer bonding.
Here's a breakdown of each type of technology that the company announced.
zHBM : Samsung’s vision for custom HBM ultra-high-performance memory that will sit on top of logic dies.
: Samsung’s vision for custom HBM ultra-high-performance memory that will sit on top of logic dies. zNAND-O : NAND memory that can be bonded atop a logic device to maximize bandwidth, reduce latency, and minimize power consumption.
: NAND memory that can be bonded atop a logic device to maximize bandwidth, reduce latency, and minimize power consumption. BV-NAND (aka Samsung’s 10th Generation V-NAND): Samsung’s take on bonding NAND arrays atop all the circuitry needed to operate them. This is essentially next-generation 3D NAND technology that is used today by almost everyone, including Kioxia/Sandisk, SK Hynix, and YMTC (which was the first company to adopt such a method).
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zHBM: Placing HBM stack on top of logic
Around the time we first heard about HBM4's 2,048-bit interface, we read a 'semi-official' report that SK hynix and its partners were considering vertical integration of HBM4 stacks on top of logic chips. To a large degree, companies were considering installing these memory stacks on top of their processors as they doubted that it would be possible and feasible to use interposers to connect HBM4 stacks to AI accelerators. Over time, it turned out that integration of memory on top of logic is complicated when it comes to cooling, power delivery, and developing interposers that can handle a 2,048-bit memory interface. Samsung's zHBM appears to be a continuation of that effort.
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