Toward a Universal Memory

by Johan Åkerman Science, 22 Apr 2005 Today's electronic gadgets, such as digital cameras and mp3 players, often contain three different types of memory, because none of these memory types-static random access memory, dynamic random access memory, and Flash-can fulfill all memory requirements of these devices. In his Perspective, Åkerman discusses magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), a promising candidate for a "universal memory" that combines all the strengths and none of the weaknesses of the existing memory types. Several companies have succeeded in creating multi-megabyte MRAM prototypes, suggesting that large-scale introduction of MRAM devices to the market is not far off. Read the article