Advances in Non-Volatile Storage Technologies

Today, HDD areal densities are nearing 1 Terabit per sq. in. and Flash memories are applying lithographic exposures much smaller than 28 nm, or are advancing to 3D structures. These products require new and demanding process techniques to maintain storage market growth and cost competitiveness. Alternative new non volatile memories and storage technologies as STT RAM, RRAM, PCM and several others are becoming more attractive to meet this growing demand for storage and memory bytes. This study will address the status of NVM device technologies and review requirements in process, equipment and innovations. Progress in implementing these devices as well as future concerns to achieve economic implementation will be outlined. The dependency on CMOS driver devices for NVM will be discussed to attain a high density memory or storage alternative. A concluding assessment in implementation of NVM will be made in the context of HDD and Flash memories.