The days of running out of storage space on your device may be numbered. A couple of very smart chaps at Rice University are very close to being able to mass produce their next-generation memory. Their memory, classified as “resistive random-access memory” or RRAM (not to be confused with RAM!), uses a dielectric material to form paths across two wires, but only when sufficient voltage is supplied. And the key behind the Rice team’s work is that their dielectric material is silicon oxide. The properties of the memory device allow it to be much denser, lasting 100 times longer and being able to store 3 times as many bits per cell as conventional flash memory, making one terabyte of storage in a mobile device a real possibility. Head of the Rice team, James Tour, says:
“This memory is superior to all other two-terminal unipolar resistive memories by almost every metric… And because our devices use silicon oxide — the most studied material on Earth — the underlying physics are both well-understood and easy to implement in existing fabrication facilities.”
This concept has actually existed for about 5 years, however, it hasn’t been till recently that a way for manufacturers to create the memory in conventional conditions has been discovered. As you can imagine, memory companies are very interested in the technology and the team at Rice have already said that interested companies are already inquiring with them.
What do you think about the possibility of one terabyte of storage in your device? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Rice University via engadget
