The future of computing is clear chips

Posted on 16 Dec 2008 at 18:59

Engineered by researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the new technology, is called transparent resistive random access memory (TRRAM).

The boffins explained that the technology may be used for a variety of applications including clear Minority Report-style computer monitors and TV which can be embedded inside glass or transparent plastic.

Described in the latest issue of the journal Applied Physics Letters, the new chip is similar in type to complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) memory that is currently commonly used to provide data storage for USB flash drives. Like CMOS devices, the new chip provides "non-volatile" memory, meaning that it stores digital information without losing data when it is powered off. Unlike CMOS devices, however, the new TRRAM chip is almost completely clear.

"It is a new milestone of transparent electronic systems," says researcher Jung Won Seo, who is the first author on the paper.
"By integrating TRRAM device with other transparent electronic components, we can create a total see-through embedded electronic system."

According to the researchers the clear chips are relatively easy to fabricate and may be commercially available in just three or four years.

"We are sure that TRRAM will become one of alternative devices to current CMOS-based flash memory in the near future after its reliability is proven and once any manufacturing issues are solved," said Professor Jae-Woo Park, who is Seo's co-advisor and co-author on the paper.

Author: Robert Jaques

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