South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor and Toshiba Corporation have agreed to jointly-develop Spin-Transfer Torque Magnetoresistance Random Access Memory (MRAM), a next generation memory device.
The collaboration is intended to accelerate the pace of MRAM commercialisation and reduce the risk in its development, and the two firms have also extended their patent cross licensing and product supply agreements relating to MRAM.
The company sees that MRAM could sustain future growth in its semiconductor business, and applications requiring high-density memory are expected to take advantage of MRAM.
MRAM is designed to meet growing consumer demand in more sophisticated smart phones and has huge potential as highly scalable non-volatile RAM.
It also power efficient and delivers ultra high-speed, high capacity and uses magnetic properties to store data.
Data in MRAM can be determined by measuring the difference in resistance from magnetisation on a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), unlike DRAM, which distinguishes between 0 and 1 by passing an electron through a capacitor.
Data is written and saved by reorienting the magnetisation of a thin magnetic layer in a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) element using a spin-polarised current.
Toshiba aims to promote initiatives in integration of storage offerings including MRAM, NAND, and HDD and the MRAM joint development programme with Hynix forms part of it.
The companies intend to establish a production joint venture for manufacturing MRAM products once technology development has been successfully completed.
