Feb 10th - Elpida, TDK Making Strides In Energy-Saving Memory

Elpida Memory Inc. has developed a new type of DRAM offering superior energy efficiency, while TDK Corp.  has come up with a prototype of a next-generation power-saving semiconductor.

Elpida aims to commercialize its 3-D DRAM in 2013 or 2014. The R&D laboratory of Taiwanese unit Rexchip Electronics Corp. has built a 1-gigabit prototype.

With the new technology, wiring and charge-storing components are produced on a silicon wafer and then stacked atop one another. This makes more effective use of chip real estate and can shrink memory cell area by 30%.

The new technology could slash microchip power consumption to a thousandth that of current offerings.

The technology can be used to make smartphones, tablet computers and other such devices even smaller. Semiconductor production efficiency will also get a significant boost because it will be possible to cut more chips from a single wafer.

DRAMs store their data as electrical charges -- and if the flow of electric current is interrupted, the information is lost. But the new DRAM's structure reduces current leakage, so less power is needed to store data. This will prolong the life of batteries in portable devices.

Meanwhile, TDK and others have succeeded in creating a basic prototype chip that can retrieve and store data without sending an electric current, avoiding loss of heat energy. If commercialized, it could slash semiconductor power consumption to around a thousandth that of current offerings.

The device exploits spin, a fundamental property of electrons, to transmit signals. TDK, the Akita Research and Development Center, and Osaka University have confirmed that spin currents can be used to send information using silicon, the main material used by chips. This marks the first time that this has been achieved at room temperature.

In five years, TDK aims to first commercialize the technology in hard-disk drives. The technology will not only cut power use, but also increase memory capacity at least 10-fold by minimizing head size, the company says. The firm will consider applying it to devices like memory chips in the future.

Chips using electric currents to transmit data generate heat from circuit resistance and consume energy. But with spin currents, there is almost no loss, according to TDK.