[cdg] Computer News -
- From: "Donny Duncan" <ravers_deelite@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <cdg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2004 19:48:08 -0500
Pulled from NewScientist (www.newscientist.com)
Super-thin crystals promise fast memory
Thin crystalline sheets that shift the positions of their ions in response to
an electric field look more promising as a fast, low power memory devices in
personal and handheld computers, following new research in the US.
Work by Brian Stephenson and colleagues, at Argonne National Laboratory in
Illinois, suggests there is no fundamental limit to the thickness of crystals
that can exhibit this property, known as the ferro-electric effect. Previously
scientists had found that films thinner than four nanometres ceased to exhibit
ferro-electricity.
The phenomenon is currently exploited in so-called "Fe-RAM" devices, but these
applications are limited to those needing only a low memory density, such as
smart cards. For example, a commercial Fe-RAM chip made by Ramtron in Colorado
Springs, Colorado, is 10 by 10 millimetres in area but holds just 256 kilobits
of data.
But the new discovery could allow the amount of data stored on a chip of that
size to be increased by at least a factor of 100, says Stephenson. Such
miniaturisation would open up the possibility of personal computers and
handheld devices based on Fe-RAM. These would be lower power than existing RAM
devices, because the data is not lost when the power is switched off. They
would also be faster than the FLASH memory used in digital cameras and memory
sticks.
However, whether manufacturers will be able to convert the new research into
products remains to be seen. "This is very, very much thinner than current
devices utilize," says Tom Davenport of Ramtron. "Such theoretical thin devices
as postulated here would be tough to manufacture."
Read more here:
http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/tech/article.jsp?id=99996003&sub=Nanotechnology
Donny Duncan
http://www.computer-discounts-guide.com
http://www.making-an-online-living.com
http://www.satellitetv-reviews.com
Other related posts:
