Computer memory to receive major boost
Computer memory to receive major boost
Mar 17, 2005: The memory inside computers could be radically changed following the research findings from Royal Philips Electronics, which have discovered that they can create phase-change memory that can work in the same way as CD and DVD discs.
It promises to match the speed, density, low voltage and low power consumption requirements of future deep sub-micron silicon chips. It is different to Flash memory, because the performance of the memory improves in almost every way the smaller it is made.
Phase-change materials change their physical properties depending on whether they are in an amorphous or crystalline phase. A laser runs over a molecular section and finds a reflection that is either amorphous or crystalline, which creates the 1s and 0s of data.
Previous memory cells based on phase-change materials have suffered from the fact that relatively high voltage must be applied to the phase-change material in its high-resistance amorphous state in order to drive enough current through it to heat it.
Philips, however, has developed a doped Antimony/Tellurium phase-change material in which threshold switching between the amorphous and crystalline phases occurs at a low electric field strength.
Dr. Karen Attenborough, the project leader of the scalable unified memory project at Philips Research, said: "The holy grail of the embedded memory industry is a so-called unified memory that replaces all other types, which combines the speed of SRAM with the memory density of DRAM and the non-volatility of Flash.
"Philip's new phase-change line-cell technology is a significant step towards this goal."
The new technology is said to be 100 to 200 times faster than the time required to programme a Flash memory cell, and making the line-cell only requires one or two additional lithography steps.
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