Elpida and Qimonda are discussing joint development of Phase-change RAM (PRAM) and also magneto-resistive RAM (MRAM) together with other potential technologies such as Si through-hole electrode technology. The two DRAM-making companies are talking about a merger.
Micromem Technologies is pleased to announce that it is fully engaged and conducting business development work in two foundries in the United States. The company expects to enter into a third foundry contract by Q3 2008. Joseph Fuda, the companyâs CEO, stated, âWith our potential clients beginning to validate our technology and moving towards specific productization plans for their product lines, it is imperative that we continue to have full access to foundry operations. This will ensure the process of moving from constant innovation to product revenue is accelerated.â
The company has begun manufacturing its magnetic sensors for potential commercial clients. This work is currently underway in the Global Communications Semiconductor (GCS) foundry in Torrence, California. The company expects to deliver the first packaged magnetic sensors for evaluation and characterization some time this summer and anticipates generating sales from these pilot projects. GCS performed exceptionally well in the early productization phase and the management will continue this partnership as it brings sensors and memory arrays to market.
With the productization process fully underway with its partners, Micromem has focused its attention to business development. Management is pursuing licensing revenue and direct revenue from sales and marketing channels for its memory and sensor devices. In a similar vein the company will begin to deliver MRAM memory arrays packaged for specific market place evaluation by Q3 2008.
Joseph Fuda states, âWe are now actively responding to and submitting proposals for both commercial and government sectors for memory and sensor applications. The interest that we have seen for sensors has been incredible and we expect this to be a very exciting and profitable sector for our patented technology. It is important to note this initial project is for a potential client in the sensor market only and is independent of the companyâs memory initiatives.â
In two papers published in the April 11 issue of Science, IBM Fellow Stuart Parkin and colleagues at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose describe both the fundamentals of a technology dubbed "racetrack" memory as well as a milestone in that technology. This milestone could lead to electronic devices capable of storing far more data in the same amount of space than is possible today, with lightning-fast boot times, far lower cost and unprecedented stability and durability.
Within the next ten years, racetrack memory, so named because the data "races" around the wire "track," could lead to solid state electronic devices - with no moving parts, and therefore more durable - capable of holding far more data in the same amount of space than is possible today. For example, this technology could enable a handheld device such as an mp3 player to store around 500,000 songs or around 3,500 movies - 100 times more than is possible today - with far lower cost and power consumption. The devices would not only store vastly more information in the same space, but also require much less power and generate much less heat, and be practically unbreakable; the result: massive amounts of personal storage that could run on a single battery for weeks at a time and last for decades.
For nearly fifty years, scientists have explored the possibility of storing information in magnetic domain walls, which are the boundaries between magnetic regions or "domains" in magnetic materials. Until now, manipulating domain walls was expensive, complex, and used significant power to generate the fields necessary to do so. In the paper describing their milestone, "Current Controlled Magnetic Domain-Wall Nanowire Shift Register," Dr. Parkin and his team describe how this long-standing obstacle can be overcome by taking advantage of the interaction of spin polarized current with magnetization in the domain walls; this results in a spin transfer torque on the domain wall, causing it to move. The use of spin momentum transfer considerably simplifies the memory device since the current is passed directly across the domain wall without the need for any additional field generators.
Hynix Semiconductor and Grandis have signed a license agreement for memory products involving Grandis' patents and intellectual property (IP) in the spin-transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM) arena.
Hynix and Grandis have also entered into a collaborative agreement to jointly integrate Grandis' STT-RAM technology into Hynix' future memory products. Technical teams from both companies will work together to implement Grandis' STT-RAM technology, including magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) materials and structures.
Micromem Technologies is pleased to announce that BAE Systems, the premier global defense and aerospace company, is in the process of transferring the Micromem's MRAM and sensor technology to its Nashua New Hampshire foundry facility. BAE Systems plans to complete the productization of Micromem's technology over the coming months. The focus is for the planned integration of Micromem's patented technology into the BAE Systems military platforms and product pipeline.
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.
UPDATE - in a street.com article, Freescale claims 45 customers for the MRAM chip.