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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

"CHIPS: Superlattices enable small, fast, low-power RRAM"

Resistive random access memories (RRAM) could supercede flash memories in the near future, according to researchers worldwide. Look for alternative nonvolatile memory chip designs from all the major flash memory chip makers over the next few years. R.C.J.


Superlattices may hold the key to commercializing resistive random access memories, according to researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Using superlattices of magnetite and zinc ferrite, the researchers report are two new materials that they claim may lead to faster, smaller and more energy efficient RRAMs. Superlattices are atomically thin alternating layers of different materials whose resulting semiconducting properties are strikingly different from those of either material alone. After much experimentation, professor Jay Switzer and his colleagues at Missouri S&T report two superlattices, one composed of different formulations of magnetite (an iron oxide) and a second superlattice material using different formulations zinc ferrite, each of which can have their resistance switched from high to low, making them a candidate for the next-generation memory chip known as resistive random access memory (RRAM).
Full Text: http://bit.ly/4tZJG2