Toshiba and SanDisk today celebrated the opening of Fab 5, the third 300mm wafer NAND fabrication facility at Toshiba's Yokkaichi Operations in Mie Prefecture, Japan.

Toshiba began the construction of Fab 5 in July 2010, and the new facility, equipped with manufacturing equipment funded by Toshiba and SanDisk, started volume production in July 2011. Fab 5 currently uses 24 nanometer (nm) process technology and its first wafer outs will be in August. In time, the fab will transition to more advanced process generations, starting with recently announced 19nm technology, the world's smallest process node.

Fab 5 incorporates earthquake-absorbing structures and integrates multiple power compensation techniques for protection against unexpected disruptions. LED lighting and power-saving manufacturing equipment will support the fab in securing Toshiba's goal of 12 percent less CO2 emissions than Fab 4. A wafer transportation system links the facility with Fabs 3 and 4 to support efficient manufacturing.

During a tour of the new chip factory, Toshiba's president Norio Sasaki said his company wanted to soon overtake rival Samsung Electronics as the world's leading maker of flash memory.

Flash Forward, Ltd., a joint venture between Toshiba and SanDisk established in September 2010 (50.1 percent owned by Toshiba and 49.9 percent by SanDisk), funded the advanced manufacturing equipment within the fab.