A revolutionary new type of digital
storage memory, funded since its infancy by the Office of Naval
Research, recently reached a milestone and transitioned into
the testing and debugging phase of its development. This new
technology -- Vertical Giant Magnetoresistance Random Access
Memory, or VRAM -- was conceived and demonstrated by the Naval
Research Laboratory (NRL) and Carnegie Mellon University. Dr.
Gary Prinz and his colleagues of NRL's Materials Science and
Technology are conducting the research at the Laboratory.
"The technology is a direct
product of a basic research program supported for many years
by ONR to explore new materials and concepts in magnetism, which
is a strength of ONR programs," said Dr. Larry Cooper, the
ONR program officer who funds the work.
VRAM memory has the potential
to replace all mechanically driven storage media, including computer
hard drives and compact discs. The new goal is a technology,
which will produce a 100 to 1,000-fold increase in the storage
capacity over semiconducting memory. The dynamic RAM used by
today's personal computers must continually refresh their memory
cells or all of the information contained in them would be lost.
A static form of RAM exists that does not need constant refreshing,
but it is expensive and consumes a lot of chip area.
VRAM dramatically reduces the
need for transistors, leading to lower cost, and retains information
without continual refreshing, reducing the power requirement.
Theinformation contained in the memory cells remains there, even
when the power is turned off. The researchers estimate that VRAM
technology will also increase memory access speed by a factor
of 10. The high-density, non-volatility, radiation-hardness and
low-power attributes of VRAM make it well suited to space, avionics,
and shipboard applications. In addition to its freedom from moving
mechanical parts, the technology is particularly advantageous
when a component or system, once implemented, is difficult or
impossible to retrieve.
In 1999, ONR awarded a contract
to Nonvolatile Electronics, Inc., under the Navy Small Business
Program, to develop the enabling technology for VRAM. The Minnesota-based
company recently met its Phase I goals, which included completing
a preliminary circuit design and outlining a process for fabricating
integrated VRAM memory arrays. Under the Phase II portion of
the contract, the company will design the circuits, develop processing
technology, fabricate, test and debug the
technology, then produce and demonstrate a prototype VRAM array
fully integrated with silicon-based electronics.
"We're pleased at the progress
Nonvolatile Electronics has made in bringing this technology
closer to a manufacturing environment," Cooper said.
"Ultimately,
we believe it will be possible to produce vertical giant
magnetoresistance
memory cells on existing silicon processing lines with only minor
modifications."
The total annual market for nonvolatile
solid-state memory is estimated at more than $10 billion, with
this new technology addressing a significant portion of that
market.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is the Navy's full-spectrum corporate laboratory, conducting a broadly based multidisciplinary program of scientific research and advanced technological development. The Laboratory, with a total complement of nearly 2,500 personnel, is located in southwest Washington, D.C., with other major sites at the Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Monterey, Calif. NRL has served the Navy and the nation for over 85 years and continues to meet the complex technological challenges of today's world. For more information, visit the NRL homepage or join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
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