Breakthrough in the industrialization of PCRAM----Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology

Breakthrough in the industrialization of PCRAM

Date：19-07-2017 | 【Print】【close】

Shanghai, 28th, June--A breakthrough in the industrialization of phase change random access memory (PCRAM) has been realized by Prof. SONG Zhitang's group, which was announced in a press conference held in Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology (SIMIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

At the beginning of the conference, Prof. SONG Zhitang, who is the leader of PCRAM group and the dean of State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, introduced the research and development of PCRAM. DING Li, the technical director and vice manager of Zhuhai Apex Microelectronics Co., Ltd delivered a speech titled "Development of enterprises and technology". After that, Dr. LI Xi presented the PCRAM chips and showed the wat it works, which attracted significant attention from everyone at the scene. Later, Prof. SONG Zhitang and DING Li answered questions about the academy-industry collaboration and the prospect of industrialization of PCRAM.

SIMIT and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) has been cooperating for more than 10 years to study PCRAM, and a remarkable breakthrough on 130 nm node PCRAM has been achieved. Additionally, SIMIT works together with Apex for many years to develop high-performance PCRAM chips that are used in printer, making the industrial production come true.

A strategic cooperation agreement between SIMIT and Apex has been signed in December of 2012 to accelerate the industrialization process of PCRAM and its application in printer chips. In 2016, the bottleneck in the engineering application of PCRAM was broken by SIMIT, SMIC and Apex, making it possible to commercially produce PCRAM chip in Kb level. Up to June 2017, more than 16 million chips have been sold. Furthermore, SIMIT, SMIC and Apex are planning to develop new 110-40 nm chips for printer and Internet of things (IoT). This work will provide new insights into the development of embedded system and experience on the application of PCRAM.

During the conference, WANG Dongjie, the general manager of Zhuhai Apex Microelectronics Co., Ltd, and Prof. SONG Zhitang gave interviews about the development and production of PCRAM.

This event, hosted by the Deputy Secretary Prof. YU Yuehui, attracted Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television, Wen Wei Po and some other news media. PCRAM group members in SIMIT attended the conference as well.