China's Speediest Hard Drive: Does 'Poxiao' Signal a New Era in Flash Memory?

A memory device as small as rice grains has surpassed what was previously considered an unbreakable speed limit, now able to erase and rewrite information up to 100,000 times quicker than earlier models.

In a world obsessed with the competition for supremacy artificial intelligence (AI) Chinese researchers have achieved unprecedented memory speeds — using a device tinier than a grain of rice.

On Thursday, researchers from Fudan University introduced "Paxio," also known as Dawn, the quickest flash memory device ever developed. This innovation allows for erasing and rewriting data in just 400 picoseconds. To put this into perspective, one picosecond equals one trillionth of a second.

Although the current prototype stores merely kilobytes — insufficient for much more than displaying this narrative — its groundbreaking architecture demolishes contemporary storage speed limits by a factor of 100,000, heralding an era when artificial intelligence will be capable of processing information at thought-like velocities.

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Featured in the journal Nature, this advancement in electron physics could soon merge the boundaries between memory and computation.

Tackling the constraints of information storage speed has consistently been among the foremost challenges in the realm of integrated circuits, and it represents a crucial technological hurdle that hinders the full realization of AI computational capabilities.

Current storage architectures have persistent limitations. Volatile memory types such as SRAM and DRAM - provides fast speeds but faces issues with limited capacity, high energy usage, and expensive production costs, as well as data loss When the power goes out, non-volatile memory such as flash storage provides greater capacity, reduced energy usage, and maintains data integrity. However, it falls short significantly when it comes to speed.

The research group sought to boost the performance of flash memory, leveraging its benefits while tackling its speed constraints.

The fundamental storage element of flash memory is a floating-gate transistor, where electrons flow into and out of a charged area due to voltage influences, facilitating data retention. Previously, enhancing the speed of flash memory was achieved by accelerating the electrons beforehand, giving them more kinetic energy as they entered and exited, explained project lead Liu Chunsen in an announcement from Fudan University.

However, according to conventional theoretical frameworks, this "warm-up" phase progresses slowly, with a limit on how fast it can be achieved, hindering rapid responses. memory From surpassing hypothetical velocity boundaries.

"Sixty years ago, Bell Labs unveiled the floating-gate transistor. Without venturing beyond conventional concepts or depending solely on alterations of materials, significant advancements would not have been achieved. This is precisely why our focus has been on pioneering an entirely novel method for flash memory development," Liu stated.

The scientists presented an innovative method to speed up flash memory, enabling electrons to swiftly shift from a slow-moving state to a fast one, eliminating the necessity for a preliminary “warm-up” period. Known as "2D-enhanced hot-carrier injection," this concept resulted in the creation of a prototype device.

During testing, the erase-write speed achieved 400 picoseconds, outpacing even the quickest volatile memory type globally, which is SRAM, using the same technological process. In contrast to the numerous microseconds typical for standard flash memory, this represents an improvement exceeding one hundred thousandfold.

Based on an article from Fudan University’s website, this technology represents the quickest semiconductor storage method currently known, with equivalent speeds for both storing and processing data. The piece noted, “Upon scaling up for widespread implementation, it has the potential to revolutionize the present storage system entirely.”

The report further stated that due to this technology, upcoming personal computers might not require distinguishing between memory and external storage anymore. This could abolish the necessity for hierarchical storage systems and allow for the localized implementation of extensive AI models.

In 2015, the team initiated research into flash memory devices. By 2021, they had presented their preliminary theoretical framework. The previous year, however, saw them create a highly efficient flash memory unit featuring an 8-nanometer channel width, thus overcoming the dimensional constraints imposed by traditional silicon-based flash memories, typically capped at approximately 15 nanometers.

The "Poxiao" flash memory device is now advancing toward production. When integrated with CMOS technology, the chip has already achieved successful fabrication at the kilobyte scale.

In five years, the group aims to expand it to several dozen megabytes and get the necessary licensing for marketing readiness.

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China's Speediest Hard Drive: Does 'Poxiao' Signal a New Era in Flash Memory?