R&D: Phase Change Memory Applications, History, Present and Future

Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics has published an article written by Paolo Fantini, Micron Technology Inc., Vimercate, MB, Italy.

Abstract: “50 years from the discovery of the Phase Change Memory (PCM) is a sufficient time frame to see the steps of this technology with a historical perspective. So, a historical review of the PCM from its first proof of concept up to the most recent achievements of the research is provided. A parallel historical glance to the product development is also proposed as background to lead the discussion on the opportunities that PCM can bring in the actual scenario of memory eco-system. Against the dream of PCM as universal memory, this paper offers guidelines for PCM applications in the widespread landscape separating the Short-time memory (like DRAM, short both for latency and retention) with respect to the Long-time memory (like NAND, long both for latency and retention), thus contributing to the heterogeneous memory eco-system. In particular, hints on embedded PCM are considered, while more extensive discussion is reserved for PCM in the Storage Class Memory arena and in the neuromorphic and in-memory computing applications.“