RADAR Iron says its owned business, Israel-based Weebit-Nano, has achieve a significant breakthrough in its nano-porous Si ReRAM memory devices development.
Weebit in partnership with Rice University is one of the world’s foremost developers of Silicon Oxide (SiOx) ReRAM technology, built around memory and semiconductor technology invented by Professor James Tour of Rice University in Houston, Texas.
ReRAM technology is expected to result in semiconductor memory elements which are cheaper, faster, more reliable and more energy efficient than the existing Flash technology.
Weebit has observed its device filament is at a sub-5nm scale (as opposed to current competitors' 16nm), and that it can operate without any deterioration of perofrmance reliability. The filament is the conductive path that either allows electrical current to flow or not to flow, allowing data to be stored either as a "1" or a "0".
The ability to scale down to this level of nano-miniaturisation has been one of the major challenges facing filament-based ReRAM technology development. As filament size decreases, electrical current densities increase; the same amount of electricity needs to travel through a smaller surface area of filament. This can lead to filament “burn-out”, or in less severe cases compromising performance reliability.
According to Weebit, this is a major development barrier, and competitors who are also working on other filamentary ReRAM technologies based on metal oxides are unlikely to be able to scale down without significantly impairing their performance and reliability.
Weebit’s technology is based on nano-porous silicon oxide, not metal, and thus requires very low current. Its own filament was found to be unaffected by higher current densities, allowing additional rapid scale down as memory demand continues to increase. Additionally, increases in current density will not affect device integrity, and there is no noticeable size-dependent electrical behaviour due to switching.
Weebit is in negotiations with major semiconductor manufacturers regarding joint venture development. The filament miniaturisation breakthrough is expected to hasten these discussions. It expects to show a commercially viable product within 18 months.