Transparent memory a step closer to reality?

The non-volatile, resistive memory devices were developed based on the revelation that silicon oxide itself can be a switch. The team, led by James Tour and Douglas Natelson, found that a voltage run across a thin sheet of silicon could strip oxygen atoms away from a channel 5nm wide, turning it into conductive metallic silicon. With lower voltages, the channel could then be broken and repaired repeatedly, over thousands of cycles. According to Tour, the channel can be read as a 1 or a 0, which at 5nm shows promise to extend Moore's Law. The memories are said to be 95% transparent and 80% efficient, although the researchers believe this can be improved upon. The big advance, they say, is the fact that the devices only require two terminals, making them less complicated than their three terminal counterparts. "This means arrays of two terminal memories can be stacked in three dimensional configurations, vastly increasing the amount of information a memory chip might hold," Tour explained, adding that there was also the possibility for making multi state memories that would further increase their capacity. The team believes the devices show potential for radiation hardened devices that can withstand heat up to 700°C, which would make them suitable for mounting directly atop of integrated processors with no ill effects. The lab is also building crossbar memories with embedded diodes to better manipulate control voltages. The findings have been reported in the journal Nature Communications.