Wednesday, September 29, 2004
After five years in research and development, Micromem Technologies Inc. (MMT) late Tuesday (Sept. 28) claimed it has come one step closer in producing an MRAM for use radio-frequency identification (RFID) applications.
After conducting what the company called an independent review, consultant Cynthia Kuper claimed MMT (Toronto) has demonstrated the ability to design and fabricate an MRAM memory cell. Micromem's research team plans to develop a 96-bit memory array, which will be aimed at new applications in the RFID market.
MMT retained the services of Kuper to assess the magnetic memory currently under development by the company. MMT claimed it had successfully produced an MRAM as far back as 1999, but it's unlikely the company has ever produced a commercial product ).
MMT appears to be getting one step closer, however. "The MMT research team is able to fabricate components of the memory cell and is awaiting its next milestone, which is to assemble the components of the memory cell into a working device," Kuper said in the report. "MMT's technology is currently on the micron scale and can be further reduced in size and consequently the memory can be made denser."
MMT has solved some key bottleneck issues associated with magnetic memory, including interference and material fatigue. The company claims to have filed a provisional patent application in August of this year on a specific solution for this bottleneck to be implemented in the memory cell.
"The storage medium in MMTs memory cell is not subjected to the same stress as other magnetic memory devices and therefore will have enhanced performance," the report said. "This is due to the nature of the mechanism of data storage in MMTs memory cell, which negates the common mechanism of material failure in other memory systems."
In a statement, Joseph Fuda, president and CEO of Micromem, said the review "validates the years we have invested in developing our magnetic memory cell components."
Others are also scrambling to devise MRAMs for next-generation nonvolatile memory applications. Freescale Semiconductor Inc., the semiconductor company formed from Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector, has cast its 4-Mbit MRAM as a standard product. The company is also sampling the part to customers, according to Freescale
By: DocMemory
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