Technical / Research - Page 4

Renesas announced that it has developed 22-nm embedded STT-MRAM circuit technologies. Renesas developed a test 32-megabit (Mbit) chip with an embedded MRAM memory cell array that achieves 5.9-nanosecond (ns) random read access at a maximum junction temperature of 150°C, and a write throughput of 5.8-megabyte-per-second (MB/s).

To achieve this performance, Renesas developed two technologies. The first is a fast read technology employing high-precision sense amplifier circuit, utilizing capacitive coupling. The second is a fast write technology, with simultaneous write bit number optimization and shortened mode transition time.

Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the Fert Beijing Institute of Beihang University have experimentally demonstrated a fully-functional picosecond opto-MRAM building block device, by integrating ultrafast photonics with spintronics.

The researchers used a femtosecond (fs) laser, which is the fastest stimuli commercially that enabled the device to be extremely fast - and also a thousand times more energy efficient compared to standard MRAM devices. The device is based on the femtosecond laser-induced all-optical switching (AOS) scheme in synthetic ferrimagnetic multilayers that was discovered by TU/e in 2017, integrating it with MRAM bit

Taiwan-based Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) announced an agreement with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to co-develop Voltage-Control MRAM (VC-MRAM) technologies.

ITRI says that VC-MRAM is a type of SOT-MRAM that offers improved performance - 50% higher writing speed and 75% less energy consumption. VC-MRAM is said to be ideal for AIoT and automotive industry applications. The partnership is expected to strengthen the link between both parties and accelerate the R&D and industrialization of new memory technologies.

Researchers from National Taiwan University in collaboration with TSMC developed a new SOT-MRAM device structure, that features sizable orbital currents. This research promises a pathway for enhancing SOT-MRAM performance by harnessing both the conventional spin currents and the emergent orbital currents.

The new device is based on 3d light transition metals (such as V and Cr) that are incorporated into the classical spin Hall metal Pt. The Pt-Cr alloy enhances the charge-to-spin conversion efficiency which can realize high spin-orbital Hall conductivity, beyond the conventional spin Hall limit.

Researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology developed an ultrahigh-efficiency SOT magnetization switching in fully sputtered BiSb(Co/Pt) multilayers with large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA).

The new device offers a large spin Hall angle and high electrical conductivity, thus satisfying all the three requirements for SOT-MRAM implementation. The researchers managed to achieve robust SOT magnetization at a low current density despite the large PMA field.

Researchers from Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), have demonstrated what they say is the world’s first in-memory computing based on MRAM, targeting next-generation AI chips.

The researchers explain that In-Memory computing is a new paradigm that seeks to perform both data storage and data computing in a memory network. In such a computing system, a large amount of data, stored in the memory network, can be executed in a highly parallel manner. Power consumption in such systems is substantially reduced.

Researchers from the University of Arizona developed a new pMTJ structure that exhibits high magnetoresistance, strong retention and is likely to achieve fast switching times as well.

The new structure uses a multi-interface free layer (MIFL) which incorporate multiple materials with different properties. The researchers used a ferromagnetic CoFeB layer with nonmagnetic Mo or MgO layers. The magnetoresistance can be controlled by changing the thickness of the CoFeB layer. The researchers managed to demonstrate a magnetoresistance of over 200%.

Renesas Electronics announced that it has developed two new technologies that reduce the energy and voltage application time for the write operation of STT-MRAM chips.

On a 20-Mbit test chip with embedded MRAM memory cell array in a 16 nm FinFET logic process, a 72% reduction in write energy and a 50% reduction in the voltage application time were confirmed.

Researchers from Tohoku University managed to fabricate the world's smallest STT-MRAM MTJ, at 2 nm. In addition, the researchers demonstrated fast switching (3.5 ns) in sub-five-nm STT-MRAM MTJs.

The new MTJ were developed using a new multilayered ferromagnetic structure that can engineer characteristic relaxation time, which governs the magnetization dynamics in the ns regime.

Researchers from Northwestern University, in collaboration with researchers from China, Italy and France, developed a new SOT-MRAM device structure that enables deterministic switching without any need for bias magnetic fields.

The new approach, unlike most earlier methods, can be scaled to large wafers with good uniformity, since it doesn't rely on having a structural asymmetry in the device. SOT-MRAM devices based on this structure could be faster and more energy-efficient than current designs.