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Scientists from the University of Arizona (Arizona State University) have developed an elegant method for significantly increasing capacity electronic computer memory chips. Led by professor of electronic systems engineering and director of the Center for Applied nanoioniki (Center for Applied Nanoionics) Michael Kozik (Michael Kozicki) team demonstrated “technology ionic memory, which is one of the candidates for use in future storage devices. An additional advantage of development – it requires no exotic materials for the production process.

Explains Kozik, his work opens the way to affordable, capacious storage devices, which is achieved by stacking layers of memory on each other inside a single chip. The method would eventually be placed in a single chip as much information as you are able to store hard drives. Portable Electronics with to become even more compact, resistant to stress and will economize on battery power. Technology is an improvement over the development two years ago, can replace the flash memory using materials commonly used semiconductor industry. In recent experiments, researchers added to the memory cells are not less common silicon. The new chip has already been demonstrated at the International Symposium on Electronic Materials, held in Taiwan.

Kozik believes that with current manufacturing technology industry is rapidly approaching the physical limit for storage devices. This has prompted scientists to look for new technologies, and one of the options – stacking layers of memory cells. The concept can be described by analogy with the boxes in a small room. The number of such “cells” increases significantly for the same area, if the advantage of three dimensions and have the box and in the vertical plane. The idea is quite simple, and something similar is also proposed for processors, where each other should be placed computing core, forming a three-dimensional multi-core chip. Until now methods for memory is not used in connection with the inability to isolate the superimposed layers.

Each cell contains an element of storage and components that provide access thereto for reading and writing. “Previously, when combined memory cells together could not gain access to one without simultaneously disturbing others, since they have an electrical connection. We added insulators that separate all the cells – explains Kozik. Until now, access components built into the silicon substrate. – But if do this for one layer of memory and then add the following, there’s nowhere to place the access scheme. Silicon is used for the first layer, we obtain a single crystal. Team Kozik tried to find a way to incorporate isolating diode in the memory cell. The researchers managed to achieve the goal without the usual for such cases, inclusion in the scheme of several layers of materials, but only the replacement of one another. Now, instead of embedding the components of access to cells in the substrate, they are placed in located on each other, layers of memory, which include different types of silicon.

“Instead of a single transistor in the substrate, which controls every cell, we have a unit with built-in diode for access, which allows us to pack so many layers of memory as possible for the design. Everything was decided the removal of the lower electrode and replacing it with silicon,” – says Kozik. Thus, the memory capacity increases significantly. According to scientists, such technology - only for the semiconductor memory that can compete with hard drives in terms of value and volume of stored data.

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