MRAM production - Page 10

Jean-Pierre Braun, the CEO of Crocus technologies, is visiting Israel these days, and I had the good chance of meeting him. Crocus' technology is based on work done by the French Spintec research center. In fact they get an exclusive access to Spintec MRAM related research and patents for the next 15 years.

Crocus' technology

Crocus' basic technology is based on Field-Induced MRAM (Toggle MRAM), which is in some ways similar to Everspin's technology (or 1st generation MRAM). Historically, Field-Induced MRAM is very hard to scale, and has stability and retention problems. Crocus aims to solve all this using a thermally activated magnetic latch. They call their technology Thermally Assisted Switching or TAS. Basically this means that the latch helps the cell retain the memory value very well. It can also scale quite well. This also (theoretically) will allow them to pack more than 1 bit per cell... some day.

Jean-Pierre says that many companies are doing 'Thermal MRAM' - which only means heating the material for easier handling. But Crocus technology is very different - because of the use of this magnetic latch, not just heat by itself.

Crocus plans

Crocus already has a 'small' (few KBits) working sample of their memory, and towards the end of 2009 they will hopefully get a real product out. I can't say much yet, but this product will have a higher-density than Everspin's products (currently 4Mbit), smaller size and will also be considerably cheaper. This is great news, and hopefully they'll be able to pull it off. Even though the largest MRAM market is for embedded memory, the first Crocus product will be stand-alone.

Crocus financials

Obviously these are hard times - especially for start ups and companies that are still losing money. Crocus has already raised around US$30M, but they aim to break-even in 2010 or 2011. They will still require another round of investment, but hopefully a small one.

Future plans

Crocus are also working on STT-RAM. Jean-Pierre thinks that the best way forward is Perpendicular STT-RAM, which is currently lead by Toshiba. Crocus' MRAM road map looks like this -

• 130-90ns : Field induced TAS MRAM
• 65-45ns : STT-MRAM
•  

But volume production of STT-RAM is still way off, probably "at least 4-5 years" away according to Jean-Pierre.

Will MRAM ever be the 'Universal Memory'?

In the happy days of 2004, MRAM was hyped as the universal memory - being able to replace your SRAM, DRAM, FLASH and H/D - all in one chip. This is great - but not realistic - at least Jean-Pierre does not believe it. It will require some serious technological breakthrough to compete in particular with NAND Flash, and he just can't see it happen anytime soon. Better to focus on 'niche' memory markets that will take full advantage of the specifics of MRAM - infinite endurance and fast write & read cycles, reliability, small die size and low memory requirements. I'm also quite tired of the old MRAM buzz and hype, and hopefully Crocus and other companies are more sober today and this might actually lead to commercial products. Good luck!

Grandis today announced their 300-millimeter magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) fabrication facility (Fab) in the US dedicated to STT-RAM. Grandis is now able to incorporate STT-RAM into its customers' most advanced semiconductor processes on 300mm wafers.

Grandis' MTJ Fab can now handle both 200mm and 300mm customer wafers. In a multi-million dollar investment, key equipment for depositing and annealing MTJ memory elements, the critical building blocks for STT-RAM, was purchased. Since Grandis' new licensees are often not familiar with fabricating MTJ elements and do not possess the associated fab equipment and know-how, the MTJ Fab's main purpose is enable licensees to incorporate Grandis' MTJ elements into their CMOS wafers at the earliest possible stage in the development cycle, thereby accelerating their STT-RAM development and reducing their time-to- market. The MTJ Fab also enables Grandis to conduct leading-edge R&D on new magnetic materials and MTJ elements targeted at further reducing STT-RAM write current and die size. As these new materials, structures and processes are proven, they are transferred immediately to licensees' production fabs.

Everspin has a new CEO and president: Aurangzeb Khan. In their press release, he makes an interesting comment:

“I could not be more excited to join Everspin at a time when the company is strongly expanding its product portfolio and ramping revenue growth,” said Khan. “Everspin’s revolutionary MRAM technology has broad market demand ranging from stand-alone memory products to embedded system-on-chip applications.”

Which might hint at standaline MRAM products from Everspin one day...

They also say they have 50 products already, in several markets:

Everspin MRAM delivers highly reliable, high-performance and cost-effective non-volatile random access memory. The company shipped the world’s first MRAM product in 2006. Everspin has grown its product portfolio to include 50 products and today has global production programs with industry leaders in the storage, industrial automation, gaming, energy management, communications, consumer, transportation and avionics markets.

UPDATE - seems like I got it all wrong. By standalone, they mean the current chips available. The new kind are chips for embedded SoC. Here's what Saeid, Everspin's COO told me:

“Everspin currently has standalone memory from 256kb to 4Mb range and plans to introduce 16Mb. Standalone means that the chip only has memory function (storing data).  Embedded or System on a chip means you are adding other functions like control, computing, communication to the chip in addition to data storage.”

MagSil today announced that they will reach full scale commercialization of their MRAM technology during 2009.
MagSil are developing MRAM for embedded devices (e-MRAM). MagSil's technology relies only on using industry proven equipment, processes and materials.
They will also require more funding (they are VC backed, and raised money last at 2007). 

Micromem reports that their MRAM RFID samples will be available by the end of the month. The MRAM arrays are manufactured by Global Communications Semiconductor, and are currently undergoing full performance testing.

Micromem also says that BAE Systems has completed manufacturing of Micromem's wafers. BAE's initial products will also be delivered during December. BAE makes both MRAM arrays and Magnetic Sensors based on Micromem's tech.

EverSpin technologies is expanding its MRAM product line to address the storage and consumer markets with the introduction of new byte-wide and small footprint ball grid array (BGA) products. The Everspin MRAM product family now includes 8-bit and 16-bit data widths and SRAM compatible TSOPII and BGA package options, serving the majority of battery-backed SRAM and non-volatile RAM applications.

Everspin’s 8-bit MR2A08 and MR0A08 byte-wide MRAMs and 16-bit MR2A16 MRAM BGA device are available now for production, serving a wide range of computer, consumer, industrial, automotive and aerospace applications.

Everspin’s two new 8-bit wide MRAM products are ideal memory companions for 8-bit microprocessors and application specific standard products (ASSP) like RAID-on-Chip used in storage systems and computer servers. Everspin also offers a new 48-pin BGA package option for both the current 16-bit wide and new 8-bit wide MRAM product families. The BGA package is pin-out and footprint compatible with low-power SRAMs. This allows customers to shrink MRAM board area by three times compared to a TSOPII package, making it attractive for consumer applications.

About the MR2A08 and MR0A08 MRAM devices

The 4Mbit MR2A08 MRAM and 1Mbit MR0A08 MRAM are both 3.3-volt devices featuring 35-ns read/write cycle times with unlimited endurance. The MR2A08 asynchronous memory device is organized as 512K words by 8 bits, and the MR0A08 is organized as 128K words by 8 bits. Industry-standard SRAM timing enables easy connection to existing microcontroller and system designs. The devices are housed in 44-pin TSOP Type II or 48-pin BGA packages, which are both fully RoHS-compliant, and are available in commercial and industrial temperature versions.

About the MR2A16 MRAM BGA

The MR2A16A MRAM BGA is a 4Mbit 3.3-volt device featuring a 35-ns read/write cycle time and unlimited endurance. This asynchronous memory device is organized as 256K words by 16 bits. The device is available in commercial, industrial and extended temperatures, and its industry-standard SRAM pin-out and timing enables easy connection to existing microcontroller and systems designs.

Pricing and availability

The 1Mb and 4Mb 8-bit commercial temperature MRAM in the TSOPII package and the 4Mb16-bit commercial-temperature MRAM in the BGA package are available now. Suggested resale pricing in 10K quantities for the 1Mb MR0A08AYS35 is $8.08 (USD). Pricing for both the 4Mb parts, MR2A08AYS35 and MR2A16AMA35, in 10K quantities is $14.25 (USD) each.

Renesas plans to start shipping MRAM samples in 2009. These products will be based on 90nm tech. Last month they said they will ship products in 2010. So samples in 2009, products in 2010. Renesas will also manufacture microcontrollers with embedded MRAM, also to be sold in 2010.

Renesas already has made 130nm MRAM, but they want to make it cheaper and with better power consumption, and this is why they're going to make then at 90nm. 

Renesas claims to have already devised a 130-nm MRAM, which is a four-level-metal technology with a cell size of 0.81-micron² and a standby current of zero.

But on its roadmap, the company will first commercialize an MRAM product, based on 90-nm technology that operates from 100-to-150-MHz. Slated for 2010, the device is geared for embedded memory applications in the company's core microcontroller market, said Katsuhiro Tsukamoto, president and chief operating officer at Renesas.

Freescale says they have sold over 1 million MRAM chips since 2006 (when it was introduced). They are planning to reduce the cost, and "increase its uses" to boost sales.

UPDATE - in a street.com article, Freescale claims 45 customers for the MRAM chip.