Renesas, Grandia Spin MRAM

Online staff -- Electronic News, 12/1/2005

Renesas Technology Corp. has collaborated with 3-year-old company Grandis Inc. on the development of 65nm process MRAM.

The MRAM, or magnetic random access memory, will employ spin torque transfer writing technology, in which data is written by aligning the spin direction of the electrons flowing through a tunneling magneto-resistance element.

Renesas said it will start to ship microcomputers and SoC products incorporating 65nm process STT-RAMTM in the near future, but did not give further detail.

"We are currently doing development work on MRAM technology employing high-speed and highly reliable conventional magnetic field data writing technology,” said Tadashi Nishimura, a deputy executive general manager at Renesas, in a statement. “We intend to use this technology in products such as microcomputers and SoC devices with on-chip memory. Nevertheless, in view of factors such as the need to reduce writing instability and lower current requirements, we feel that spin torque transfer is a more appropriate technology for future MRAM produced using ultra-fine processes."

According to the company, Grandis has been a leader in spin torque transfer technology for many years and was the first to incorporate spin torque transfer technology into the structure of memory cells used in MRAM.

"By maximizing the efficiency of spin torque transfer we have brought it to a level where it can be incorporated into today's LSI devices,” said William Almon, president and CEO of Grandis, in the statement. “We anticipate that collaborating with Renesas Technology in applying our technology to LSI devices will lead to an expansion in business opportunities for Grandis."