IBM develops "instant" memory, 100 times faster than flash

We must pay tribute to IBM engineers. They were able to go to work after celebrating the 100th anniversary of the corporation, and announce a new invention. This time it is a new kind of phase transition memory ( PCM ). The read and write speed is 100 times faster than that of flash memory, it can withstand several million write cycles (for flash, on average, 100 thousand), and the price is predicted to be quite low, which will make it possible to use the technology in a large range of devices: high load, up to mobile phones.

The technology is based on special alloys that can be transferred to different physical states, or phases, with the help of controlled bursts of electricity. In the past, a serious problem was that the tension in the alloy threads in the cells weakened and, as a result, the electrical resistance of the threads themselves increased, which led to errors in reading and writing information. Another disadvantage of the technology was that each cell of the alloy could store only one bit of data, but IBM staff overcame this problem: the last option presented is not only more reliable, but it can also store four bits of data in one cell. The speed of the drive based on this technology will be amazing, besides, do not forget about the promise of Intel - to release 50Gbps interface by 2015.