December 2012

UCLA's new MeRAM technology is 10 to 1000 times more energy efficient than STT-RAM, five times as dense

UCLA researcher have managed to make major improves in MRAM memory by electric voltage instead of a flowing electric current (which is used in STT-MRAM). They call the new memory MeRAM (Magnetoelectric Random Access Memory). The researchers say that MeRAM combines extraordinary low energy with very high density, high-speed reading and writing times, and non-volatility.

By using voltage to write data into MeRAM's memory, there's no need to move large numbers of electrons through wires and so the writing generates much less heat - in fact MeRAM could be 10 to 1,000 times more energy-efficient than STT-MRAM. It's also five times as dense (more bits stored in the same physical area). This should hopefully make MeRAM cheaper, too.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 16,2012

Toshiba developed the lowest power consumption STT-MRAM memory element, will accelerate R&D

Toshiba has developed a prototype memory element for STT-MRAM that (according to Toshiba) achieves the world's lowest power consumption yet reported. STT-MRAM based on this element has the potential to surpass the power consumption efficiency of SRAM as cache memory.

Toshiba's improved structure is based on perpendicular magnetization and takes element miniaturization to below 30nm. Introduction of this newly designed "normally-off" memory circuit with no passes for current to leak into cuts leak current to zero in both operation and standby without any specific power supply management. The company says it improved the speed of their previous design - while reducing the power consumption by 90%.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 10,2012

Markets&Markets: the global next-gen memory market will only reach $90 million in 2017

Markets and Markets is set to release a new report next month (Global Next-Gen memory market 2012-2017) in which they predict that the total market for new kinds of memory technologies will only reach $90.74 million by 2017 - a CAGR of 7.3% from 2012.

The report details several technology types, including MRAM, PCRAM, Ferroelectric RAM and Memristors. Of the next generation technologies, MRAM, in 2017, will be biggest market followed by FeRAM, PCRAM & Memristors.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 03,2012