ASX-listed semiconductor developer Weebit Nano (ASX:WBT) has created the industry’s first commercial integration of an oxide-based ReRAM (OxRAM) cell with an ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selector – a critical step in the company’s commercialisation path for the discrete (standalone) memory market. Weebit and its development partner CEA-Leti achieved this key milestone three months ahead of schedule.
A selector is a key element of a memory chip, enabling optimised cell access within a memory array. It assists in isolating memory cells so only the specific cells that should be accessed are, and all the other cells are not impacted. In the embedded space, a transistor is typically used as the selector device, but a transistor does not support the densities required for discrete chips. OTS is an ideal selector technology for discrete ReRAM chips as it enables the smallest ReRAM bit cell, as small as 4F2, as well as excellent endurance, low energy consumption, and high switching speed.
This integration is a significant step towards broadening Weebit’s target market beyond embedded non-volatile memory (NVM) to include discrete memory technology, and will enable the implementation of 3D memory stacking and crossbar architectures in future developments.
New markets like IoT, 5G and AI are driving needs for emerging NVM on advanced process nodes. Commenting on Weebit’s achievement, memory analyst Jim Handy said, “Weebit’s combination of ReRAM with an OTS selector promises to scale to the advanced processes and high memory densities that new memory chips will need.”
CEA-Leti Senior Scientist Gabriel Molas, said, “Creation of an OTS selector is quite a complex endeavor given the concurrent requirements to achieve high endurance, reduce variability, and maintain characteristics at high temperature operation. As such, this selector is based on several years of research by a dedicated team. We’re delighted to have worked with Weebit to achieve this milestone for its ReRAM technology more quickly than anticipated, and we look forward to continuing our joint R&D work with Weebit on further innovations.”
Coby Hanoch, CEO of Weebit, said, “This achievement demonstrates our commitment to addressing the discrete memory market as part of our mid-term strategy. We see a broad range of opportunities for discrete ReRAM, from NOR flash to storage class memory, in a range of segments. Given our 2024 target for a discrete solution, we anticipate that other opportunities will arise as well. We will continue to share our progress in meeting this mid-term goal, while we continue our near-term focus on the embedded memory module where we are making good progress.”
