Memory Technologies

Large monolithic semiconductor memories were foreseen by engineers and scientists at the very start of the integrated circuit era. But they could not have imagined that the semiconductor memory market would grow from $15 millionin 1970 to $250 billiontoday. This chapter details the history and potential future directions of integrated circuit memory technology. This includes discussions of DRAM, FLASH, and the most promising emerging memory technologies. Emerging memory technologies are moving away from the charge storage mechanisms of DRAM and Flash, and are instead looking at new methods of non-volatile data storage, such as storing the data state via the change in device resistance. While it is difficult to predict which of these semiconductor memory technologies will thrive or even survive in the years ahead, the search for a "universal" memory technology will no doubt continue for many years.