Intel and STM Deliver Phase Change Memory Prototypes
The 128Mb memory device is codenamed Alverstone by joint-venture Numonyx
This is a Press Release edited by StorageNewsletter.com on February 7, 2008 at 3:35 pmIntel Corporation and STMicroelectronics reached a key industry
milestone today as they began shipping prototype samples of a future
product using a new, innovative memory technology called Phase Change
Memory (PCM). The prototypes are the first functional silicon to be
delivered to customers for evaluation, bringing the technology one step
closer to adoption.
The memory device, codenamed “Alverstone”
uses PCM, a promising new memory technology providing very fast read and
write speeds at lower power than conventional flash, and allows for bit
alterability normally seen in RAM. PCM has long been a topic of
discussion for research and development, and with “Alverstone,”
Intel and STMicroelectronics are helping to move the technology into the
marketplace.
“This is the most significant non-volatile
memory advancement in 40 years,” said Ed
Doller, chief technology officer-designate of Numonyx, the new name for
the pending STMicroelectronics and Intel flash memory company. “There
have been plenty of attempts to find and develop new non-volatile memory
technologies, yet of all the concepts, PCM provides the most compelling
solution – and Intel and STMicroelectronics
are delivering PCM into the hands of customers today. This is an
important milestone for the industry and for our companies.”
In related news, Intel and STMicroelectronics technologists presented a
research paper this week at the International Solid States Circuits
Conference (ISSCC) describing yet another breakthrough in PCM
technology. Together, the companies created the world’s
first demonstrable high-density, multi-level cell (MLC) large memory
device using PCM technology. The move from single bit per cell to MLC
also brings significantly higher density at a lower cost per Mbyte
making the combination of MLC and PCM a powerful development.
In 2003, Intel and STMicroelectronics formed a joint development program
(JDP) to focus on Phase Change Memory development. Previously the JDP
demonstrated 8Mb memory arrays on 180nm at the 2004 VLSI conference and
first disclosed the Alverstone 90nm 128Mbit memory device at the 2006
VLSI Symposium. Alverstone and future JDP products will become part of
Numonyx, a new independent semiconductor company created through an
agreement between STMicroelectronics, Intel and Francisco Partners
signed in May 2007. The new company’s strategic focus will be on
supplying complete memory solutions for a variety of consumer and
industrial devices, including cellular phones, MP3 players, digital
cameras, computers and other high-tech equipment. The companies are
scheduled to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2008.
In 2007, the combined memory market for DRAM, flash, and other memory
products such as EEPROM was US$61 billion, according to the industry
research firm Web-Feet Research, Inc. Memory technology cost declines
have traditionally been driven at the rate of “Moore’s
Law,” where density doubles every 18 months
with each lithography shrink. As RAM and flash technologies run into
scaling limitations over the next decade, PCM costs will decline at a
faster rate. The advent of multi-level-cell PCM will further accelerate
the cost per bit crossover of PCM technology relative to today’s
technologies. Finally, by combining the bit-alterability of DRAM, the
non-volatility of flash, the fast reads of NOR and the fast writes of
NAND, PCM has the ability to address the entire memory market and be a
key driver for future growth over the next decade.
Alverstone is a 128Mb device built on 90nm and is intended to allow
memory customers to evaluate PCM features, allowing cellular and
embedded customers to learn more about PCM and how it can be
incorporated into their future system designs.
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