Infineon presents magnetic RAM prototype

Computers that don't lose their data, even when the power supply fails;
laptops with batteries that supply power for days without the need for
recharging; handheld computers and cell phones with huge amounts of memory; and
PCs that, at the touch of a button, pick up again at the exact spot where you
left off the day before. In just a few years, this vision of the future of
computing could become reality.

The prerequisites for it are offered by new types of memory technologies that
are intensive in research like the MRAM technology. At the prestigious VLSI
Circuits Symposia in Hawaii, the German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon
together with IBM have presented the world's first 16-Mbit magneto-resistive
RAM (MRAM) prototype. Unlike conventional computer chips, MRAM chips use
magnetization to store information, instead of electrical charges.

Up until now, computers had to continuously supply the main memory chips with
power in order to store data. The information on MRAM memories, however, remains
intact even after the system has been powered down. The working concept is
similar to the way the data is stored on a computer's hard disk drive.

In addition, they are very fast, which enables exceptionally rapid access to
data. For comparison: Infineon's 16-Mbit MRAM chip is approximately 1,000
times faster than the non-volatile flash memory used in USB sticks, handheld
computers and digital cameras.

Furthermore, information can be stored in an MRAM memory cell up to one
million times more often than is possible with flash memory. The high storage
capacity of the 16Mbit Chip (16 million single cells) was enabled using a small
1.4 square microns cell. By comparison 5,000 storage cells would fit on a cross
section of a human hair.

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