Stanford engineers unveil first working RRAM prototype and manufacturing process at IEDM

STANFORD, USA: In an engineering first, Stanford researchers have built a working prototype for a new type of memory chip that has the potential to store more data, using less space, than the flash memory chips found in smart phones, tablets and laptops today.

This new chip uses a technology called resistive random access memory or RRAM. Resistance slows down electrons. Conductivity lets electrons flow. By applying tiny jolts of voltage to carefully chosen materials, the Stanford engineers can toggle their RRAM chip between resistive and conductive states to create and store digital zeroes and ones.

In addition to creating a working RRAM chip, the Stanford team has also shown how to fabricate these devices using processes that could be scaled up to produce these new memory chips in volume.

The team will unveil its RRAM prototype and fabrication process at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) this week in Washington, D.C.