Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and Fujitsu Ltd are set to begin volume production of ferroelectric random-access memory (FeRAM) chips by end of the year, reports Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The technology, invented by Ramtron International Corp and licensed by a gamut of semiconductor companies can be used to produce large-scale integrated circuits which retain their state when the power is off. FeRAMs are thought to be ideal for electronic cash applications, integrated circuit cards and non- contact cards because they are near infinitely re-writable and use low amounts of power. Matsushita is building capacity to turn out 20,000 6 wafers a month – samples will ship in June. Fujitsu will manufacture 3,000 64Kbit cards a month initially.
