The general trend in computing technology is that devices and their components grow smaller in physical size even as they become capable of ever more powerful operations in less time. This trend even has a name: Moore’s Law.

 

A case-in-point is phase-change memory (also referred to as PCM, PRAM, and C-RAM), a technology that makes use of chalcogenide glass to provide non-volatile storage space (high-speed, doesn’t lose info when power turned off) for computing applications.

 

Phase-change memory currently is being marketed as an alternative to Flash RAM, which was developed by Toshiba (News - Alert) in the mid-1980s and is now the essentially universal technology used for small, portable applications like USB keychain drives and memory cards in digital cameras.

 

The new technology got a boost Monday when computer chipmaker IBM (News - Alert) announced that it is teaming up with manufacturers Macronix and Qimonda to produce phase-change memory chips.

 

The three companies, in fact, have developed a prototype phase-change memory device capable of switching 500 times faster than Flash while using less than half the power the Flash requires to write data into a cell.

 

The new device also can be produced in a smaller form factor (3 by 20 nanometers) than Flash.

 

In a statement, T.C. Chen, vice president of IBM Research’s Science & Technology division, said that the results seen with the prototype device indicate a very bright future for phase-change memory.

 

“Many expect flash memory to encounter significant scaling limitations in the near future,” Chen said in a statement. “Today we unveil a new phase-change memory material that has high performance even in an extremely small volume. This should ultimately lead to phase-change memories that will be very attractive for many applications.”

 

In order to create the new device, IBM and its partners used a complex semiconductor alloy material created at the company’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California. The companies have filed a patent for the new material which is made up of germanium and antimony, with small amounts of other elements added to enhance its properties.

 

The companies explained in their announcement that the new material helps make it possible to produce memory devices that are smaller and longer-lasting than Flash. More specifically, they noted that, as Moore’s Law continues to shrink computing, Flash may not be able to keep up in its non-volatile format once it become necessary to produce memory less than 45 nanometers in size.

 

“We have demonstrated the potential of the phase-change memory technology on very small dimensions laying out a scalability path,” Qimonda AG Senior Vice President of Technical Innovation, Wilhelm Beinvogle, said in a statement. “Thus phase-change memories have the clear potential to play an important role in future memory systems.”