MRAM technologies boast higher densities, less power consumption

USA: The global market for embedded and standalone non-volatile RAM is poised for explosive growth in the next few years.

Magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) and other non-charge storage-based memories including FeRAM continue to outperform charge-based semiconductor storage technologies such as SRAM, DRAM, NOR flash and NAND; but one challenge remains at the forefront: scalability and commercialization.

Recent announcements, such as Toshiba's new STT-MRAM prototype, mark a shift in MRAM as in-plane technology is replaced by perpendicularly magnetization methods. The latter uses significantly less current and is capable of functioning on smaller transistor sizes.

Perpendicular magnetization has also resolved a major dilemma manufacturers faced previously: making a tradeoff between SRAM-like performance and lower power draw. As next generation STT-MRAM come to light, manufacturers should look forward to the promise of a scalable path with potential to broaden appeal for these new memory elements in mainstream consumer applications.

Research and development is key to accelerating this movement and Global Information (GII) provides the latest market research reports covering the global MRAM technology and memory markets from our premium research partner Forward Insights.