Freescale

NVE reported their financial results, and in the conference call they gave some interesting new details about their MRAM program. Daniel Baker (the CEO) says that NVE 'overcame many of the technical challenges in making MRAM'. In fact, the company is already shipped some sample prototype MRAM chips, but they don't call it 'production' yet. The samples will be for specialized niche applications - but the company sees this as a 'vehicle to develop MRAM technology'. In the future the company hopes to address large volume anti-tamper applications such as to prevent identity theft or improve the security of credit cards and smart cards.

In regards to Everspin being a licensee, here's what they say - "EverSpin is a company that's making and selling commercial MRAM, and they are spin-off of Freescale, which was a spin-off of Motorola. So, we have a long historical relationship. Motorola was an early investor in NVE, and we had research contracts and intellectual property agreements with Motorola. So, we believe that they share our vision for a very bright future for MRAM"

Freescale has decided to form a new company called EverSpin, and to give its MRAM technology portfolio to this new company. Several companies (New Venture Partners, Sigma Partners, Lux Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Epic Ventures) will invest 20M$ in the new company.

EverSpin will operate in a portion of Freescale's Chandler (Arizona, US) semiconductor foundry and take on about 50 existing company employees who were associated with the MRAM technology.

EverSpin already have a web page, with some initial information. 

Freescale says they have sold over 1 million MRAM chips since 2006 (when it was introduced). They are planning to reduce the cost, and "increase its uses" to boost sales.

Angstrom Aerospace is using Freescale's MRAM in its Tohoku-AAC MEMS Unit (TAMU), a magnetometer subsystem for the Japanese research satellite called SpriteSat. In developing the Satellite subsystem, Angstrom Aerospace worked closely with Dr. Johan Akerman, a renowned Swedish professor of material physics and applied spintronics at the Royal Institute of Technology.

E2v has introduced an MRAM which is an extended-reliability version of the MR2A16A from Freescale Semiconductor.

The EV2A16A operates at SRAM speeds with symmetrical 35ns read and write cycles. Its standard SRAM interface allows a seamless system integration of this memory device by directly connecting to standard memory controllers.

“The EV2A16A is the first device of a new family that is scheduled to be offered with higher screening grades for this 4Mbit device. The company also plans to introduce higher density products within the coming months,” said Eric Marcelot, marketing manager at e2v.

The EV2A16A is available in a standard 44-lead TSOP type II package in both extended (-40 to +110 deg C) and military (-55 to +125 deg C) temperature ranges.

Freescale Semiconductor today announced the industrial and extended temperature qualification of its award-winning magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) products. Freescale's entire 1Mbit, 2Mbit and 4Mbit MRAM families are now available at commercial (0 C to 70 C), industrial (0 C to 85 C) and extended (-40 C to105 C) temperature ranges.