SK hynix has announced it developed a NAND flash memory with the highest vertical layers to date, offering enhanced productivity, accelerated data transfer and increased energy efficiency.

The company unveiled the 238-layer 4D NAND flash on Wednesday, showcasing the world’s “most layered and smallest” storage medium at this week's Flash Memory Summit 2022 ahead of its mass production set for the first half of 2023.

NAND flash is a non-volatile storage medium that does not require power to retain data, and its enhanced performance and capacity are measured by the amount of vertical layers that contain memory cells.

SK hynix said the 238-layer NAND increased productivity by 34 percent compared to the previous 176-layer NAND, while the data transfer speed increased by 50 percent.

The company is set to first use the new product in solid-state drives for PCs before expanding their application to smartphones and other devices.