Losing the lasers turns CDs into memory sticks

July 18, 2008 | Source: New Scientist news service

A future generation of ultra-dense flash memory chips could be based on a new Phase Change Memory (PCM) technology, according to Numonyx, an Intel spinoff.

Flash memory transistors (currently 65 nanometers wide) will face limited lifetime (write/erase cycles) when dimensions get below 20 nanometers, due to the retention of electric charge in the flash transistor.

PCM would use use GST (an alloy of tellurium, antimony and germanium), switching between disordered and crystalline states, as in a CD or DVD. It would allow for stable use down to 5 nanometers or below, the company says.