New memory materials could boost storage density

It comprises a layered structure of tantalum, nanoporous tantalum oxide and multilayer graphene between two platinum electrodes. The researchers claim that the design – details of which are published online in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters - could allow for crossbar array memories that store up to 162 gigabits (around 20 GB).

“This is a new way to make ultradense, nonvolatile computer memory,” said James Tour, professor of materials science, nanoengineering and computer science at Rice University.

While current flash technology requires three electrodes per circuit, the device developed by the team at Rice needs just two. According to Tour, it uses 100 times less energy than current devices.

“This tantalum memory is based on two-terminal systems, so it’s all set for 3D memory stacks,” he said. “And it doesn’t even need diodes or selectors, making it one of the easiest ultradense memories to construct. This will be a real competitor for the growing memory demands in high-definition video storage and server arrays.”