'Accidental discovery' creates candidate for universal memory — a weird semiconductor that consumes a billion times less power

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'Accidental discovery' creates candidate for universal memory — a weird semiconductor that consumes a billion times less power (archive.today)

A chance discovery by researchers could drastically lower the energy needed for next-generation memory technologies.

The new candidate for phase-change memory (PCM), which combines the best of short-term memory and long-term storage, consumes far less power than previously identified materials.(Image credit: Getty Images/Yuichiro Chino) Scientists may have accidentally overcome a major barrier to smoothening the adoption of next-generation data-storage technologies.

Using a unique material called indium selenide (In2Se3), researchers say they discovered a technique for lowering the energy requirements of phase-change memory (PCM) — a technology capable of storing data without a constant power supply — by up to 1 billion times.

The breakthrough is a step toward overcoming one of the biggest challenges in PCM data storage, potentially paving the way for low-power memory devices and electronics, the researchers said in a study published Nov. 6 in the journal Nature.

PCM is a leading candidate for universal memory — computing memory that can replace both short-term memory like random access memory (RAM) and storage devices like solid-state drives (SSDs) or hard drives. RAM is fast but needs significant physical space and a constant power supply to run, while SSDs or hard drives are much denser and can store data while computers are turned off. Universal memory combines the best of both.

It works by toggling materials between two states: crystalline, where atoms are neatly ordered, and amorphous, where atoms are randomly arranged. These states correlate to binary 1s and 0s, encoding data via switches in states.

However, the "melt-quench technique" used to toggle these states — which involves heating and rapidly cooling PCM materials — requires significant energy, making the technology expensive and difficult to scale. In their study, the researchers found a way to bypass the melt-quench process entirely by instead inducing amorphization through an electrical charge. This slashes PCM's energy requirements and potentially opens the door to broader commercial applications.

"One of the reasons why phase-change memory devices haven't reached widespread use is due to the energy required," study author Ritesh Agarwal, a professor of materials science and engineering at Penn Engineering, said in a statement. The potential of these findings for designing low-power memory devices is "tremendous," he said.

Source (livescience.com)

>A chance discovery by researchers could drastically lower the energy needed for next-generation memory technologies. >The new candidate for phase-change memory (PCM), which combines the best of short-term memory and long-term storage, consumes far less power than previously identified materials.(Image credit: Getty Images/Yuichiro Chino) Scientists may have accidentally overcome a major barrier to smoothening the adoption of next-generation data-storage technologies. >Using a unique material called indium selenide (In2Se3), researchers say they discovered a technique for lowering the energy requirements of phase-change memory (PCM) — a technology capable of storing data without a constant power supply — by up to 1 billion times. >The breakthrough is a step toward overcoming one of the biggest challenges in PCM data storage, potentially paving the way for low-power memory devices and electronics, the researchers said in a study published Nov. 6 in the journal Nature. >PCM is a leading candidate for universal memory — computing memory that can replace both short-term memory like random access memory (RAM) and storage devices like solid-state drives (SSDs) or hard drives. RAM is fast but needs significant physical space and a constant power supply to run, while SSDs or hard drives are much denser and can store data while computers are turned off. Universal memory combines the best of both. >It works by toggling materials between two states: crystalline, where atoms are neatly ordered, and amorphous, where atoms are randomly arranged. These states correlate to binary 1s and 0s, encoding data via switches in states. >However, the "melt-quench technique" used to toggle these states — which involves heating and rapidly cooling PCM materials — requires significant energy, making the technology expensive and difficult to scale. In their study, the researchers found a way to bypass the melt-quench process entirely by instead inducing amorphization through an electrical charge. This slashes PCM's energy requirements and potentially opens the door to broader commercial applications. >"One of the reasons why phase-change memory devices haven't reached widespread use is due to the energy required," study author Ritesh Agarwal, a professor of materials science and engineering at Penn Engineering, said in a statement. The potential of these findings for designing low-power memory devices is "tremendous," he said. [Source](https://www.livescience.com/technology/computing/accidental-discovery-creates-candidate-for-universal-memory-a-weird-semiconductor-that-consumes-a-billion-times-less-power)