September 19, 2008: One of the governing marvels of the world, magnetism is a phenomenon by which certain materials exert attractive or repulsive forces upon other materials. While everyone is familiar with the magnetic properties of certain metals, all materials are influenced by magnetics. And, just as every snowflake, fingerprint, or DNA strand is distinct, everything in our world has a unique magnetic signature.
“For a number of years, researchers and scientists have been attempting to develop magnetic random access memory, or MRAM technology, as a highly probable candidate for ‘universal memory,'” says Joseph Fuda, CEO of Micromem Technologies Inc., a development-stage company at the forefront of MRAM and magnetic sensor technology.
Micromem discovered that its storage medium, when fitted to a sensor, illustrates dramatic advantages over other sensors. The company recently announced that its foundry tests have demonstrated a number of valuable benefits for a magnetic-based sensor and memory device including high sensitivity, thermal stability, and low cost manufacturing.
Micromem’s research suggests the possibility of ubiquitous applications for “nano-MRI,” sensors that are incredibly small and infinitely sensitive. “The revolution in “seeing” that magnetic sensors will usher in promises to be profound; analogous to Galileo’s telescope vs. Hubble’s lens,” says Fuda. “The hypothetical implications of MRAM technology encompass limitless unmet needs in any number of sectors.”
Some of the company’s partnership and commercialization efforts include R&D for applications in biometrics, medical devices, defense and security and natural resource exploration.
“Using magnetic properties to ‘see,’ store, and process information is the future of technology,” says Fuda. “It’s an idea with lots of pull.”
Micromem’s storage medium is a ferromagnetic bit fitted on a Hall sensor which senses magnetic field direction and stores information accordingly. MRAM is fabricated using III-V semiconductor technologies providing enhanced sensitivity for the sensor and the read element while maintaining radiation hard capabilities.