Elpida, Ovonyx Ink Phase Change Memory Licensing Agreement

Online staff -- Electronic News, 2/3/2005

To further develop new DRAM features that provide high performance and low current consumption that next-generation mobile applications require, DRAM giant Elpida Memory Inc. has licensed Ovonic Universal Memory (OUM) thin-film semiconductor memory technology from Ovonyx Inc., the companies reported today.

OUM uses a reversible phase-change memory process previously commercialized in rewritable CD and DVD optical memory disks. The Ovonyx array-addressed semiconductor memory technology can be used in applications such as DRAM replacements, as well as embedded applications in many product areas such as microcontrollers and reconfigurable MOS logic.

“Elpida plans to utilize Ovonyx' phase-change technology to further explore the development of new DRAM features that will provide the high performance and low current consumption required for next-generation mobile applications,” Yukio Sakamoto, president and CEO of Tokyo-based Elpida, said in a statement.

The technology license agreement also provides that Ovonyx will actively support Elpida’s program to commercialization OUM phase change memory products.

In 2000, ST licensed the memory technology from Ovonyx and then expanded their agreement in 2003. Then last June, ST said it had made significant progress toward adapting the technology to eventually replace flash memory.

No financial details of today's agreement were given.