Crossbar Unveils Ultra-High Density 3D RRAM Solutions
Achieving another milestone needed to bring terabyte storage-on-a-chip to market, Crossbar, Inc., a start-up company pioneering 3D Resistive RAM (RRAM) non-volatile technology, has disclosed it has solved one of the greatest challenges facing developers in achieving ultra-high density RRAM. In a technical presentation at IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in San Francisco, CA, the company unveiled its approach to suppressing the sneak path current that interferes with reliable reading of data from individual memory cells, one of the most challenging hurdles RRAM developers are currently facing. Without the ability to suppress this sneak path current, RRAM developers are unable to deliver the high-density 3D memories arrays needed to make terabyte storage-on-a-chip possible.
"When we unveiled Crossbar RRAM eighteen months ago, we laid out aggressive plans to deliver a new generation of memory capable of scaling to 1 terabyte (TB) on a chip the size of a postage stamp," said George Minassian, CEO, Crossbar Inc. "Crossbar continues to overcome the major technical hurdles that have, in the past, kept others from bringing RRAM to market. With this latest achievement, we are one step closer to commercialization, enabling the implementation of RRAM technology in commercial products; a ground breaking achievement that will redefine what is possible with enterprise storage and high-capacity non-volatile SoC memories."
The announcement announcement follows Crossbar's previous technology disclosure of its patented 1TnR (1 Transistor driving n Resistive memory cell) selectivity making it possible for a single transistor to manage a very large number of interconnected memory cells, which enables very high capacity solid-state storage. While 1TnR enables a single transistor to drive over 2,000 memory cells with very low power, it also experiences leakage of a sneak path current that interferes with the performance and reliability of a typical RRAM array. Crossbar's patented field assisted superlinear threshold selector device solves that leakage problem by utilizing a super linear threshold layer, in which a volatile conduction path is formed at the threshold voltage. This field assisted superlinear threshold device is the industry's first selector capable of suppressing the leakage current below 0.1nA and has been successfully demonstrated in a 4 Mbit integrated 3D stackable passive Crossbar array.
"Without an effective way to suppress the sneak path current, high-density 3D RRAM has been technically unachievable," said Alan Niebel, founder and CEO of Webfeet Research. "Crossbar's selector is the first solution to overcome this design challenge, paving the way for terabyte storage-on-a-chip to become a reality and positioning RRAM as the leading next generation NAND memory replacement."
