NRAM built using nanotubes offers DRAM-like speeds, unlimited endurance

Shawn Knight

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nanotube-infused nram dram nand storage ssd memory ram nantero nram endurance write endurance nanotube nanotubes

One of the major knocks against NAND flash used in today’s solid state drives is its endurance. Given enough writes, this type of memory will ultimately break down and become useless. That’s apparently not the case with NRAM (non-volatile RAM), a technology from Nantero that’s been in development for the past 14 years.

NRAM is a type of non-volatile storage built using carbon nanotubes. CEO Greg Schmergel said his company’s product is created by laying carbon nanotubes on top of a silicon wafer. The layer is then patterned with lithography and etching with each NRAM cell on a 2x-nanometer node containing hundreds of nanotubes.

nanotube-infused nram dram nand storage ssd memory ram nantero nram endurance write endurance nanotube nanotubes

As The Tech Report notes, each cell effectively has its own nanotube fabric in which the resistance is low when the tubes are touching and high when they aren’t. Applying a tiny amount of voltage causes the cell to switch states in picoseconds.

The end result is a storage chip that operates at the speed of DRAM, has low power consumption, supports MLC configurations and in theory, has unlimited endurance. They’ve already survived a multitude of strenuous testing from Lockheed Martin and NASA even took a sample to space.

Instead of building products themselves, Nantero is licensing its intellectual property out to third parties. The company said two of the top five semiconductor foundries are already working with NRAM meaning we could see it show up in consumer products sooner rather than later.

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Why make a product that doesn't wear out? Not only will it not be replaced with a newer one but the manufacturer will have to offer unheard of warranties. A very noble concept but not a sustainable business model.
 
Why make a product that doesn't wear out? Not only will it not be replaced with a newer one but the manufacturer will have to offer unheard of warranties. A very noble concept but not a sustainable business model.
there are plenty of other reasons to replace a product. the RAM cells aren't the only thing that can break and newer and better performing products will always come out.
it's not like current drives and memory sticks break on regular basis and most that do are still within the warranty date.
 
Why make a product that doesn't wear out? Not only will it not be replaced with a newer one but the manufacturer will have to offer unheard of warranties. A very noble concept but not a sustainable business model.

Never underestimate our thirst for more capacity...
 
Why make a product that doesn't wear out? Not only will it not be replaced with a newer one but the manufacturer will have to offer unheard of warranties. A very noble concept but not a sustainable business model.

Never underestimate our thirst for more capacity...
Are You a representative from Microsoft or Adobe? I wanted to place a complaint. A week ago or so I've decided to reinstall Windows 7 SE on my grandma's netbook, used solely for Skype and searching cooking recipes, because it was extremely sluggish and hanged right after boot. After successful reinstall it run like 6 years ago when it was brand new, but then I decided to install 1GB of MS updates and Adobe Flash and it hanged again right after reboot. Could You guys do something with it, please?
 
This info doesn't matter to me much at all, this technology won't be mass produced in the upcoming years, knowing how greedy some big companies can get, I can safety say this won't be out atleast until 2025.

They will probably milk costumers a couple of years more selling outdated technology, pretty much like some ISP providers with obsolete DSL and crappy speeds for a lot of money.

Price is going to be so high that will make no sense to buy, not because it is expensive to produce, just because it is faster, blame the ridiculous price tag on the people who always are willing to pay stupid amounts of money just because they can.
 
Why make a product that doesn't wear out?
That notion sounds just like the thoughts of a CEO that wants to create job security in continually selling merchandise to people. I despise corporations that design produces without making them to last. Engineered weakness floods our market enough without wishing for more.
 
That notion sounds just like the thoughts of a CEO that wants to create job security in continually selling merchandise to people. I despise corporations that design produces without making them to last. Engineered weakness floods our market enough without wishing for more.
Unfortunately Cliff it's not an ideal world. If things never became outdated or wore out how would manufacturers make money? Nothing, but nothing lasts forever, not even Apple or our earth.
 
If things never became outdated or wore out how would manufacturers make money?
Ask yourself what people today do for a living, now that the biggest majority no longer needs to work on farm land. People will always find something to do. We don't have to limit the functionality of our devices to insure that.
 
Its already being licensed. I'm inline with thinking this will never reach the consumer market. But it will reach other for sure. Such as governments, military and large corporations. The real question is why them and not us?
 
Carbon nanotubes are awesome voodoo. I didn't think we'd get to see this stuff in mass production for at least another 10-15 years.
 
Its already being licensed. I'm inline with thinking this will never reach the consumer market. But it will reach other for sure. Such as governments, military and large corporations. The real question is why them and not us?

Probably because they have Trillions to dump into something that will retain "Your data" forever.
 
Why make a product that doesn't wear out? Not only will it not be replaced with a newer one but the manufacturer will have to offer unheard of warranties. A very noble concept but not a sustainable business model.

There are plenty of products out there that technically dont wear/run out. Your Cellphone, Your Car, That Lamp next to your desk, Those headphones. All of those things can last decades or longer with proper care. Yet we still replace them, sometimes every few months.
 
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