Non-volatile memory improves energy efficiency by two orders of magnitude

By using voltage-generated stress to switch between two magnetic states, researchers have designed a new non-volatile memory with extremely high energy efficiency—about two orders of magnitude higher than that of the previous most efficient non-volatile memories.

The engineers, Ayan K. Biswas, Professor Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, and Professor Jayasimha Atulasimha at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, have published their paper on the proposed non-volatile memory in a recent issue of Applied Physics Letters.

"We are excited that we have been able to come up with the idea of a strain-switched memory element capable of 180° switching using a simple geometric design," Bandyopadhyay told Phys.org. "The combination of excellent energy efficiency, fast writing speed and low error probability is very rare. We are glad that all three of these attributes coexist in our design."