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IBM, Infineon work on new memory chip hits milestone

International Business Machines Corp and memory-chip maker Infineon Technologies AG have developed memory that stores, in a hundredth of a second, the equivalent of 1,000 pages in an area the size of the top of a pencil eraser.

The latest invention created from research into magnetic random access memory (MRAM), will lead to memory chips that make it easier to e-mail pictures or download data from the Web to cellphones or electronic organizers, IBM researchers say.

New York-based IBM and rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co are rushing to build memory that packs more data in smaller, faster circuits to tap demand for phones and wireless devices with Internet hookups.

The IBM-Infineon chips run three to five times faster than previous MRAM research prototypes, IBM scientist Bill Gallagher said in an interview.

"This is a very exciting development," said Robert Buhrman, an engineering professor at Cornell University.

"IBM has been working on this for a number of years. The indication from this report is that they are taking a great step forward," he said.

IBM says it will demonstrate a prototype chip by next year. Details of the chip were to be disclosed yesterday at a technical conference in Japan.

Scientists have been working on developing MRAM for about 10 years because the chips would take up less space and use less power than current memory, analysts said.

MRAM uses tiny magnets to hold data, instead of storing electric charges and using silicon like today's memory. These chips could allow devices to retain data even after a power outage and may be commercially available by 2005, IBM said.

Hewlett-Packard is also working on MRAM. The California company wants to put the chips in server computers that run Web sites and networks and in devices such as digital cameras, said Jim Brug, who oversees Hewlett-Packard's MRAM research.

"It's certainly going to be a thousand times faster than disk drives," Brug said.

Intel Corp., the biggest computer-chip maker, has researched another next-generation memory called ovonics unified memory.

Scientists now have to see how technically viable MRAM chips are outside the laboratory.
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