- Ultraram seeks to unite storage and memory after decades of trial
- Innovate UK -Financing in 2023 gave Quinas Technology Critical Momentum
- Recognition at the flash memory summit increased Ultraram’s commercial visibility
The persecution of a single memory capable of combining the persistence of flash storage with the speed of system memory has been underway for decades.
Several candidates, such as resistive memory, magnetoresistive cells and Intel’s Optane SSDs, tried to braid these roles, but no one lasted in mainstream markets.
A few years ago, however, attention switched to Ultraram, a technology originally devised at Lancaster University and later advanced by Quinas Technology, a British-based startup founded to transform the research into a practical product.
From academic research to prototype memory
Early studies described this technology as “a non-volatile memory with the potential to achieve fast, ultra-energy electron storage”, and raises hope that it could bridge the gap between SSD and RAM.
Momentum grew in 2023 when Quinas Technology secured a grant from Innovate UK, a government agency that supports commercial science.
The award followed its recognition at Flash Memory Summit the same year, with the company winning the award for the most innovative flash memory start.
The funding enabled Quinas to move from LAB-scale prototypes to nanometer-scale devices, a key requirement if Ultraram is to compete with the largest SSD and RAM products on the market.
In order for a national body to place confidence in the project and even finance it suggests that Ultraram has gone beyond speculative research.
This represents the kind of “massive boost” required to begin serious scaling work, a step that often lacks from previous memory technologies that faltered before production.
Ultraram is said to combine fast access times with Ultralow Switching Energy and Storage Endurance potentially measured for centuries.
It is also a technology whose lifetime exceeds the average SSD flash storage, but with a lower power need.
It promises to match RAM’s reading and writing speeds while offering non-volatility in NAND.
If such claims hold on a scale, future computer devices can merge storage and memory into a single layer.
It will not only eliminate the traditional gap between SSD and RAM, but it can also make conventional memory dimms outdated because it combines the speed of the drama with the persistence of flash while removing the inefficiencies that affect both.
Unlike DRAM, it does not require constant refreshing or destructive readings, and unlike flash, it does not need charging pumps or slides leveling.
Still, industrial challenges should not be underestimated. Intel’s Optane Technology also promised a hybrid solution, but was ultimately withdrawn due to poor adoption and high costs.
Manufacturing density comparable to today’s largest SSD along with uniform yields below ten nanometers remain uncertain.
These barriers mean the idea of Ultraram as a universal memory is still closer to aspiration than guaranteed result.
Via PC gamer
