Nantero getting ready to launch nanotube-infused NRAM

UPDATE: ComputerWorld writes Nantero has over a dozen corporate customers lined up to begin experimenting with the new memory once it rolls off production lines. The company also claims its NRAM is now being produced in seven fabs in various parts of the world, but notes it will likely take a couple more years before the first NRAM drives hit retail shelves.

---

A company called Nantero is getting ready to launch its long-awaited NRAM technology. The firm has been working on its carbon nanotubes based non-volatile storage technology for over a decade and the first products should finally be available in the near future via IP license deals with third parties.

NRAM promises to make us forget about NAND flash memory by offering DRAM-like performance, low power consumption and unlimited endurance:

Unlike NAND, NRAM has "theoretically unlimited" endurance. Chips have already survived 10¹² write cycles and 10¹⁵ reads, which might as well be infinity. They can purportedly survive just about anything, including extreme heat, cold, magnets, and radiation. A test chip has even been to outer space courtesy of an "open bay" in the Atlantis shuttle. That's some serious geek cred right there.

Full details on how NRAM cells are made can be read at The Tech Report. The first NRAM products will use the DDR4 interface but this is purely for convenience, the firm claims the DDR4 interface isn't fast enough to fully exploit NRAM's potential. The first cells will be made on a 2x nm process and it seems they'll be one-bit-per-cell, but future versions could support MLC configurations. Details about the launch partners are still unknown.