The first magnetic RAM is available in the market

The memory chip industry has gone a step further when the American company Freescale released MRAM MR2A16A, which can store information as a hard drive, which operates independently of the power source.

Freescale MRAM MR2A16A.Photo: LinuxDevices

Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory) is capable of preserving information in digital cameras, mobile phones, printers . even if the power source is suddenly turned off. The chip is developed based on technology from magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ).

Static memory (SRAM) and dynamic (DRAM) chips are widely used and have fast access speeds but lose data when the power is turned off. Flash technology can also store information without electricity, but MRAM works quickly, without limiting the number of read and write times and has a longer life span than flash chips.

Freescale's MR2A16A is a 4-megabit, 3.3-volt device and has a read cycle - recording 35 billionths of a second (35 ns) per cycle.

" Magnetic memory has existed in the hard drive for a long time, but this is the first time we've incorporated this technology with a semiconductor to create a new storage product ," Saied Tehrani, director of the department. MRAM division of Freescale, said. " MRAM has been mentioned since the 1990s and we had to take a very stressful race to become the first company to market the product ."

Texas Instruments (USA) has also previously introduced high-capacity FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory) memory chips and also stores information without power. However, this chip is currently only limited applications in certain areas.