Memory technology-a primer for material scientists

• Published in: Reports on progress in physics Vol. 83; no. 8; pp. 86501 - 86537
• Main Authors: Schenk, T, Pešić, M, Slesazeck, S, Schroeder, U, Mikolajick, T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IOP Publishing 01.08.2020
• Subjects: emerging memory; hard-disk drive; market trends; non-volatile memory; random-access memory; review; storage class memory; market trends; storage class memory; review; random-access memory; non-volatile memory; emerging memory; hard-disk drive
• ISSN: 0034-4885; 1361-6633; 1361-6633
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/ab8f86

From our own experience, we know that there is a gap to bridge between the scientists focused on basic material research and their counterparts in a close-to-application community focused on identifying and solving final technological and engineering challenges. In this review, we try to provide an easy-to-grasp introduction to the field of memory technology for materials scientists. An understanding of the big picture is vital, so we first provide an overview of the development and architecture of memories as part of a computer and call attention to some basic limitations that all memories are subject to. As any new technology has to compete with mature existing solutions on the market, today's mainstream memories are explained, and the need for future solutions is highlighted. The most prominent contenders in the field of emerging memories are introduced and major challenges on their way to commercialization are elucidated. Based on these discussions, we derive some predictions for the memory market to conclude the paper.