Antimony and Tellurium Phase Change Memory to Replace Silicon Memory

New Material to Replace Conventional Memory

by Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 03/22/2005 | 09:01 PM ]

While the industry is continuing to develop more and more sophisticated technologies for future DRAM and other types of conventional data storage, the research of much more technically advanced ways of storing data takes place. It was recently discovered that phase change memory technique, that works similar with CDs and DVDs, could be used to replace DRAM, flash memory and even hard disk drives if it proves to be successful.

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“Researchers at Royal Philips Electronics say they have devised a material that could replace existing types of computer memory through a technique that has been studied for years. The material, a thin layer of antimony and tellurium, could be used to create phase change memory, which largely works the same way CD and DVD discs do. A laser is directed to a microscopic point on a layer of the material to obtain a reflection. The reflection will differ, depending on whether the molecules at that particular point are amorphous or arranged in a crystal. The two types of reflections then become the ones and zeros of data,” writes CNET News.com  

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