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RESEARCHERS from the University of Cambridge have found a way to increase the speed of phase-change memory, potentially allowing the technology to finally take over from flash memory.
Phase change random access memory writes data via a crystallisation process, and retains data due to an amorphous-phase stability. However, while it is often said to be the successor to flash memory, there is a trade off in the speed of the crystallisation process, meaning it writes data slower than flash memory.
The researchers say that they solved the problem by using a steady, weak electric field through a hybrid material of germanium, antimony and tellurium. This combination of material and electric field “primes” the memory, allowing much faster crystallisation and thus data writing.
The engineers achieved a write operation just 500 picoseconds, which is ten times faster than previous attempts without antimony or continuous power.
This breakthrough opens the way for a broadly-applicable memory device that can run at refresh rates of a gigahertz or more, soundly beating the performance of current solid-state drives based on flash memory.
The paper, titled “Breaking the Speed Limits of Phase-change Memory”, can be found on Science magazine.