 "Startup claims new resistive RAM design can store 1TB on a chip")
A startup is now emerging from stealth-mode with claims of a next-generation non-volatile memory that is easier to implement than other emerging technologies, according to Gigaom. The company in question, Crossbar, has made a demonstration array of its resistive RAM technology.
According to the company, this memory is able to store information even when the power is off. It comes with a “non-metallic bottom electrode, an amorphous silicon switching medium and a metallic top electrode,” according to a company statement.
The technology comes with a filament that is formed in the switching part when voltage is sent between the electrodes. This basically means that the memory is stable and based on simple components, according to Crossbar’s CEO, George Minassian. While talking about the technology, the head honcho said that the building blocks are small and can result in very high density. The company has so far submitted more than 100 patents for its technology.
Crossbar claims to have designed a new resistive RAM to store 1TB on a chip (Image credit: Crossbar)
The company says that the result shows that more than 1TB can fit on a chip in a design that is stacked up in a vertical manner. According to the results, the new design consumes one-twentieth the amount of power that top traditional non-volatile NAND flash memory make use of. Apart from that, the new technology can handle writes 20 times faster than NAND. And if that wasn’t enough, Crossbar says that it can keep a battery running for weeks or longer. If you look at the break-up, a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet sporting one of these chips can let users carry around 250,000 songs or 350,000 pictures.
The company is looking at the commercialisation of the technology by next year and wants to license it to fab owners for integration inside SoCs, according to the report. Plans for server-side deployments, like memory or in solid-state disks, will come later.
Since its inception in 2010, Crossbar has been able to raise at least $20.5 million, according to an SEC filing. The company’s investors include the likes of Artiman Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Northern Light.
While talking about the same, Jim Handy of Objective Analysis said that the production of NAND flash in smaller sizes each year is slowed down by the sheer laws of physics. Crossbar’s resistive RAM technology could be one of the possible solutions to the problems, according to him.
Crossbar is not the only company looking at this problem, though. According to the report, HP’s memristor, Everspin’s MRAM and the ferroelectric RAM technology that Cypress Semiconductor picked up from Ramtron are also looking at coming up with new technology.
The biggest problem is looking beyond silicon for use in the hardware, which is a known component. Other possibilities, like lead or iron, are not so well understood as component options. Crossbar’s latest foray could now push for more research into the technology to ensure that smartphones can sport memory that come with greater capacity and lesser power consumption.
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