Phase-change progress report – still no breakthrough

Former Electronic Engineering editor Ron Neale has tracked the progress of phase-change memory (PCM) for many years. His work on the technology dates back to when it was first proposed as a rad-hard memory for the military. Since then, PCM has promised to become a universal, low-power memory but, some 40 years, on has still failed to achieve it.

The development of a carbon-nanotube form of PCM could signal a way for the technology to deliver on its promise - current density in today's chalcogenides remains problematic. But that is some way off as a practical technology, Neale notes in a progress report for EETimes on the latest trials and tribulations of PCM.

PCM saw a resurgence in interest early in the last decade but, outside one or two intriguing experiments, the momentum seems to be slowing. In summing up what has happened in the past few months, Neale comments: "It would appear that much of the early confidence that PCM technology would surpass all others is on the wane."

Posted by Chris Edwards

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