Computing: Phase-change memory chips, an emerging storage technology, could soon dethrone flash memory in smartphones, cameras and laptops
Sep 1st 2012
AS EVERY parent knows, a tidy bedroom is very different from a messy
one. The number of items in the room may be exactly the same, but the
difference between orderly and disorderly arrangements is immediately
apparent. Now imagine a house with millions of rooms, each of which is
either tidy or messy. A robot in the house can inspect each room to see
which state it is in. It can also turn a tidy room into a messy one (by
throwing things on the floor at random) and a messy room into a tidy one
(by tidying it up). This, in essence, is how a new class of memory chip
works. It is called “phase-change memory” and, like the flash memory
that provides storage in mobile phones, cameras and some laptops, it can
retain information even when the power is switched off. But it promises
to be smaller and faster than flash, and will probably be storing your
photos, music and messages within a few years.
The technology relies, as its name suggests, on special substances
called phase-change materials (PCMs). These are materials, such as salt
hydrates, that are capable of storing and releasing large amounts of
energy when they move from a solid to a liquid state and back again.
........read more
No comments:
Post a Comment