14 DAY TRIAL // Random Access Memory (RAM) is fast, much faster than any HDD or NAND Flash product, but it does not retain data after power is cut to a system.
Everspin has solved that problem. Previous attempts have been made to use RAM for storage, with varying degrees of success, but Everspin might have found the best solution yet.
Called magnetic RAM (MRAM for short), the non-volatile, low-latency, low-cost memory can supposedly transfer data at DDR3-1600 clock rates, but at lower latencies than flash RAM.
Long story short, the technology can be 500 times faster than conventional NAND.
Everspin has actually started shipping its first 64Gb ST-MRAM in a DDR3-compatible module.
For the tech savvy, the method works like this: a single magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) and one transistor prompt spin-polarized electrons to tunnel through the dielectric barrier when current is applied.
The polarization is flipped when the angular momentum of the electrons is transferred to the magnetic layer. From then on, cell state is read by measuring resistance. More here.
