A new low power resistance random access memory (RRAM) device based on silicon materials has been invented. RRAM devices are non-volatile memory devices as well as promising candidates to replace FLASH memory and become the front runner among non-volatile memories. Instead of charge storage, RRAM uses high and low resistance as state variables. RRAM devices are attractive due to their fast switch speed, overwrite ability without erase, low power consumption, high endurance and long retention times. However, RRAM devices with low programming voltages and excellent device-to-device performance repeatability are still yet to be implemented. The current invention addresses these issues. Moreover, unlike other RRAM devices currently under development, these devices use only silicon-based materials making them compatible with CMOS technology. Altogether, these improvements make this new RRAM device an attractive option for commercial development.
TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION
ADVANTAGES
• Low power consumption
• All-silicon, CMOS compatibility
• High endurance
• Long retention times
• Excellent device-to-device performance repeatability
APPLICATIONS
• Computer memory
• Data storage, including long term
• New computing hardware
ABOUT THE INVENTOR
Dr. Qiangfei Xia is a professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at UMass Amherst and head of the Nanodevices and Integrated Systems Lab. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 2007 from Princeton University, where he was a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship in Engineering (a graduate fellowship from Princeton). He then spent three years as a research associate in the Hewlett Packard Laboratories in Palo Alto, California. In October 2010, he joined the faculty of UMass Amherst as an assistant professor. He became an associate professor with tenure in January 2016 and then a full professor in September 2018.
Dr. Xia's research interests include beyond-CMOS devices, integrated systems and enabling technologies, with applications in machine intelligence, reconfigurable RF systems and hardware security. He has received a DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA), an NSF CAREER Award, and the Barbara H. and Joseph I. Goldstein Outstanding Junior Faculty Award.
AVAILABILITY:
Available for Licensing or Sponsored Research
DOCKET:
UMA 14-009
PATENT STATUS:
Patent U.S. 9,871,077 Issued and Filed Continuation-in-Part Application
NON-CONFIDENTIAL INVENTION DISCLOSURE
LEAD INVENTOR:
Qiangfei Xia, Ph.D.
CONTACT: