A team of scientists from IBM, Macronix and Qimonda have unveiled a prototype computer memory with the potential to replace the flash memory chips now widely used in computers, digital cameras, portable music players and other consumer electronics.

This research gives credence to the concept of "phase-change" memory, which appears to be much faster and can be made much smaller than flash. The prototype phase-change memory device operated more than 500 times faster than flash while using less than one-half the power to write data into a cell. Plus, the device's cross-section is only 3 by 20 nanometers, far smaller than flash can be built today and equivalent to the industry's chip-making capabilities targeted for 2015.

Dr. T. C. Chen, Vice President, Science & Technology, IBM Research said that the results of the research dramatically demonstrate that phase-change memory has a very bright future. Chen further stated that "Many expect flash memory to encounter significant scaling limitations in the near future. Today we unveil a new phase-change memory material that has high performance even in an extremely small volume. This should ultimately lead to phase-change memories that will be very attractive for many applications." This type of non-volatile flash memory does not need electrical power to retain it's information.