SCI/TECH: Philips Finds New Material for Future Memory Chips

Philips Electronics researchers have discovered a new material that has fast semi conducting properties. The material requires very little voltage to switch between on and off. Also on top of that, it is non-volatile, so it will not loose what was saved to it when it is powered down, much like flash memory. The big difference with this material is that the smaller you make it, the faster it becomes. And the other big advantage to this material is that it is cheap to make, and fast to program making it attractive to manufacturers.



This is what appears to be a good replacement for flash memory and eventually computer RAM. Its already fast speed and ease of use (from a developer standpoint) makes this something that I think will be adopted quickly. Also the fact that the smaller it gets the faster it gets makes it perfect for today's ever shrinking technology. Also, I think it will once released start to get a good foothold in the industry based on the fact that it is cheap. So overall, this looks like something to look forward to on the horizon of memory technology.

:UP: Great find.

One question. The article just talks about a "material" - I want to know what the material is. Are we talking nanoparticles here? Bio stuff? Like, do they grow it?

The article did not go into detail as to what the mystery material was. I am guessing that Philips is keeping it a secret for now. Or, they just haven't made a name for it yet.

Originally posted by Sarcasimo
The article did not go into detail as to what the mystery material was. I am guessing that Philips is keeping it a secret for now. Or, they just haven't made a name for it yet.

yeah. Patents and intellectual property. ...Hope you keep an eye out and keep this thread updated tho. Thanks.

The last 3 years, there has been a huge explosion in Flashmem/MRAM/FRAM etc etc. proposals/ materials and techniques, but I think Phillips has the name and the plants to bring this one to the market.

[edit on 18-3-2005 by Silenus]

This is pretty kewl

Can't wait for the new miniture MP3 players that can hold 10,000 songs.

This is really interesting, I can't wait to find out what they derived the material from.

There have been some really fascinating advances in alternative materials. Like, maybe a year ago a company pioneered the use of chicken feathers to make lighter weight circuit boards that are incredibly heat resistant and apparently allow for faster embedded electron channels. There's some sort of resin they mix in with the feathers, and then mash the whole goop into flat boards ready for chip stamping. That, combined with the flu vaccine shortage, and the need for refuse chicken parts for Thai and Chinese crocodile farms, makes we want to open a chicken factory! I would raise chickens by the millions, sell their meat to US consumers, sell their feathers to the circuit board manufacturers, sell their inedible bits to the Chinese, their eggs to Big Pharma, and their poop to farmers. Make money 5 ways! Who wants in? I'm taking applications for investors.

In 2006 the technology that Phillips developed for rolled-up paper thin electronic displays will be rolled out (sorry couldn't resist). I would suspect that a modified version of that technology is the heart of the new memory device.

malcr
I forgot about those! Yeah, the foldable, rollable, paper thin displays. That is just beyond cool... Done with your screen, got some sensitive data? Crumple it up and throw it away, unroll a new one from the 50 pack in your back pocket.

They were talking about using that technology to enable crack-proof encryption right? Single use monitors, with built in keyboards, processors, probably using laser hard drives or something similarly nifty...

Don't ya just love progress?

What I particularly find interesting is that Phillips was going to buy the patents for a revolutionary way to program, a way that would store EXTREMELY effective, this system is probably a brand new file system, just a day or 2 before the deal was made the guy was discovered dead, it looked like a heart attack I believe, but I can't seem to stop and think this was some form of assasination.

For any dutchmen, the book he wrote was called: "De Broncode" I believe.

It might very well be that the system is what this technology is based on...