Intel and Numonyx have developed new memory technology that will enable non-volatile memory to break through NAND’s 20nm barrier and scale down to process sizes as tiny as 5nm cost effectively. The new memory technology is and advancement of phase change memory (PCM) called phase change memory and switch (PCMS).

Like the PCM, the new memory technology also works on the principle of change in state – crystalline or amorphous. The PCMS uses the same chalcogenide family material for both the thin film memory cells and their controlling thin-film selectors. The two films are combined together using crosspoint architecture resulting in high-density and high-bandwidth PCMS memory. The new thin-film selector is called Ovonic Threshold Switch (OTS) and it allows stacking of multiple iterations of the memory/selector layers on a CMOS base.

Intel on Wednesday showed the first working 64Mb single-layer version of the new memory technology. The company says that multiple layers chips are on the drawing board.

Intel believes that the PCMS memory has the potential to replace both the NAND flash memory and DRAM memory. Intel’s director of memory technology development, Al Fazio said, “PCMS can collapse some of the DRAM and some of the storage attributes of solid state into one memory class.”

The new PCMS memory will be smaller, faster and more energy efficient that NAND. And it will have DRAM like capability of changing individually bits, rather than rewriting the complete block, which is required by NAND memory.

Like all other new memory technologies PCMS based device are many years away from coming to the market. So, till that time we have to be happy with NAND flash memory.
[Via Channel Register]