Spin-injected MRAM combines the advantages of existing memories such as DRAM and NAND flash memory in terms of function, and surpasses almost all existing memories in terms of performance, so it may win a huge market (see Table 1). Specifically in terms of function, spin-injected MRAM is as non-volatile as flash memory. Even if the power is turned off, information will not be lost, and it can be accessed randomly like DRAM.
Table 1 Comparison of memory technical specifications
In terms of performance, the read and write times of spin-injected MRAM are very short, ranging from 2ns to 20ns. It does not require the erase operation necessary for flash memory, and the writing time is several orders of magnitude less than flash memory. Even compared with the high-performance DRAM in existing memories (read 1 write time is 30ns-50ns), the high performance of spin injection MRAM is still outstanding. In addition, the number of erasable times exceeds 1015, which is equivalent to DRAM and SRAM, and greatly exceeds the 105 times of flash memory.
Spin-injected MRAM, which surpasses existing memories in function and performance, is likely to replace a variety of memories used in devices (see Figure 1). If the research and development of key technologies progresses smoothly, the future popularization and application of spin-injected MRAM will be roughly divided into two stages. In the first stage, it will replace the embedded memory used in the in-vehicle MCU, and then in the second stage, it will replace the MCP and independent DRAM and independent NOR flash memory in mobile phones.
Figure 1 65nm products will replace embedded memory, 45nm products will replace independent memory
At present, all manufacturers have basically mastered the key technologies used to realize the first-stage application. In a vehicle-mounted MCU, the sram memory used by the device and the flash memory used to store the program are usually integrated on the same chip. If the spin injection MRAM can be integrated into the MCU, it can replace the aforementioned SRAM and flash memory.
MCU users have also shown a positive attitude towards using spin-injected MRAM. The flash memory integrated in the vehicle-mounted MCU has too few erasable times. It is hoped that a storage device with better read/write performance than flash memory can be used. I heard that MRAM has more erasable times than flash memory, and its performance has improved. If the cost of these two memories is the same, MRAM will definitely be chosen. When the spin-injected MRAM with 65nm process is used for mass production, it will be possible to replace the embedded memory in the vehicle-mounted MCU.