by Ed Korczynski, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology
May 20, 2008 – My recent blog about “memristors” generated a lot of feedback, with the prevailing opinion that many companies have been working on resistive memory cells for years, and most of these complex oxide structures could function as “memristors” depending on one’s interpretation. And now another variation on this theme is shown in Axon Technologies’ patented copper-doped silicon oxide materials-system.
Axon, a spin-out from the U. of Arizona, is working with several potential partners on commercialization and full production. Dr. Michael Kozicki, founder and president of Axon, explained the science behind the technology in an exclusive interview with WaferNEWS. The company just announced it has been awarded US Patent #7,372,065 for using copper and silicon dioxide to form a ReRAM they call a “programmable metallization cell” (PMC) memory device — the 27th US patent issued to Axon relative to this technology since work started 10 years ago at Arizona State U. (ASU). Kozicki told WaferNEWS that the company has “strong technical and business relations with several companies in the memory and storage industry,” including a license of the PMC technology to Micron and Infineon.