IBM Journal of Research and Development
IBM Skip to main content
  Home     Products & services     Support & downloads     My account  

  Select a country  
Journals Home  
  Systems Journal  
Journal of Research
and Development
  ·  Current Issue  
  ·  Recent Issues  
  ·  Papers in Progress  
  ·  Search/Index  
  ·  Orders  
  ·  Description  
  ·  Patents  
  ·  Recent publications  
  ·  Author's Guide  
  Staff  
  Contact Us  
  Related links:  
     IBM Research  

IBM Journal of Research and Development  
Volume 52, Number 4/5, Page 449 (2008)
Storage Technologies and Systems
  Full article: arrowHTML arrowPDF   arrowCopyright info





   

Overview of candidate device technologies for storage-class memory

by G. W. Burr, B. N. Kurdi, J. C. Scott, C. H. Lam, K. Gopalakrishnan, R. S. Shenoy
Storage-class memory (SCM) combines the benefits of a solid-state memory, such as high performance and robustness, with the archival capabilities and low cost of conventional hard-disk magnetic storage. Such a device would require a solid-state nonvolatile memory technology that could be manufactured at an extremely high effective areal density using some combination of sublithographic patterning techniques, multiple bits per cell, and multiple layers of devices. We review the candidate solid-state nonvolatile memory technologies that potentially could be used to construct such an SCM. We discuss evolutionary extensions of conventional flash memory, such as SONOS (silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon) and nanotraps, as well as a number of revolutionary new memory technologies. We review the capabilities of ferroelectric, magnetic, phase-change, and resistive random-access memories, including perovskites and solid electrolytes, and finally organic and polymeric memory. The potential for practical scaling to ultrahigh effective areal density for each of these candidate technologies is then compared.
Related Subjects: