It’s All About DRAM


For decades, the starting point for compute architectures was the processor. In the future, it likely will be the DRAM architecture. Dynamic random access memory always has played a big role in computing. Since IBM's Robert Dennard invented DRAM back in 1966, it has become the gold standard for off-chip memory. It's fast, cheap, reliable, and at least until about 20nm, it has scaled quite n... » read more

New Memory Approaches And Issues


New memory types and approaches are being developed and tested as DRAM and Moore's Law both run out of steam, adding greatly to the confusion of what comes next and how that will affect chip designs. What fits where in the memory hierarchy is becoming less clear as the semiconductor industry grapples with these changes. New architectures, such as [getkc id="202" kc_name="fan-outs"] and [getk... » read more

What’s Next For DRAM?


The DRAM business has always been challenging. Over the years, DRAM suppliers have experienced a number of boom and bust cycles in a competitive landscape. But now, the industry faces a cloudy, if not an uncertain, future. On one front, for example, [getkc id="93" kc_name="DRAM"] vendors face a downturn amid a capacity glut and falling product prices in 2016. But despite the business chal... » read more

Neuromorphic Chip Biz Heats Up


It’s no secret that today’s computers are struggling to keep up with the enormous demands of data processing and bandwidth, and the whole electronics industry is searching for new ways to enable that. The traditional approach is to continue to push the limits of today’s systems and chips. Another way is to go down the non-traditional route, including an old idea that is generating stea... » read more

ReRAM Gains Even More Steam


The prospect of using the latest in finFET processing to enable embedded non-volatile memory (NWM) will be described by a team from TSMC and Tsing Hua University in Taiwan at the IEDM meeting on Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C. Embedded NVM has been the first commercial application of ReRam, with products from Panasonic and Terrazon. Industry leaders agree the creation of NVM as a seamless additio... » read more

ReRAM Gains Steam


Resistive RAM appears to be gaining traction. Once considered a universal memory candidate—a replacement for DRAM, flash and SRAM—ReRAM is carving out a niche between DRAM and storage-class memory. Now the question is how large that niche ultimately becomes and whether other competing technologies rush into that space. [getkc id="94" kc_name="ReRAM"] (known alternately as RRAM), is a typ... » read more

Inside The MRAM


Today, the industry is shipping various next-generation nonvolatile memory types, such as 3D NAND, MRAM and ReRAM. In fact, MRAM has been shipping for some time. To get a handle on MRAM, Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the technology with Phillip LoPresti, president and chief executive of Everspin, a supplier of MRAMs. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: Where ... » read more

ALD Market Heats Up


Amid the shift to 3D NAND, finFETs and other device architectures, the atomic layer deposition (ALD) market is heating up on several fronts. Applied Materials, for example, recently moved to shakeup the landscape by rolling out a new, high-throughput ALD tool. Generally, [getkc id="250" kc_name="ALD"] is a process that deposits materials layer-by-layer at the atomic level, enabling thin and ... » read more

Memory Hierarchy Shakeup


It’s no secret that today’s memory chips and storage devices are struggling to keep up with the growing demands in data processing. To solve the problem, chipmakers have been working on several next-generation memory types. But most technologies have been delayed or fallen short of their promises. But after numerous delays, a new wave of next-generation, nonvolatile memories are finally ... » read more

Electronics Butterfly Effect


Everyone has heard of the butterfly effect where a small change in a non-linear system can result in large difference in an outcome. For the past 40 years, the electronics industry has approximated a linear system, fed primarily by Moore’s Law. The incremental changes available at each new process node have led us to make incremental changes and improvements in many aspects of the design, its... » read more

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