Chasing Intel
According to industry sources on Feb. 10, Samsung Electronics, which has been developing the next-generation memory in earnest from 2009, has recently succeeded in developing a resistive random-access memory (ReRAM) which shows the 3D cross point structure.
The ReRAM technology, which is a basic principle of the 3D cross point technology, is difficult to be developed to such an extent that experts have said it will be the last to be commercialized among the next-generation memory products, including parameter random access memory (PRAM) and spin-transfer torque magnetic random-access memory (STT-RAM). This is because it requires a lot of electricity and cannot exactly define the characteristics of resistance change. ReRAM is a type of non-volatile random-access (RAM) computer memory that records data by sending electrical signal to resistant substances, which exist in the form of thin layers in the memory cell, and changing the substances’ resistance.
Although it has not been commercialized yet, the 3D cross point technology is believed to improve the data access speed by 1,000 times compared to existing NAND flash memory chips in theory. Since it directly approaches the address of each cell, it doesn’t have to read, erase and write cells of the pages and blocks, it can also improve the durability of memory by 1,000 times. NAND flash can write 1,000 times in each cell but 3D cross point can sustain about 1 million write cycles.
Samsung Electronics is considering expanding the use of the technology in various products, such as memory card, solid-state drive (SSD), camera image censor and application chipset, in the medium to longer term. However, the company is not planning to commercialize it in the near future. As Intel and Micron announced their plans to mass produce products using the 3D cross point technology last year, Samsung Electronics has completed the technology development in order to respond immediately when needed after watching the market situations in the future.