A breakthrough at Rice University in Texas means computer memory technology could become up to five times denser, cheaper and more durable.

Using silicone crystals only five billionths of a metre wide, the new circuits will be able to withstand heat up to 200 C and, through insulated layers, would even be scalable in three dimensions.

"We've got memory that's made out of dirt-cheap material and it works," a spokesman for the university said.
"It is more than five times denser than 20 nanometer [flash memory] ... without 3-D stacking," researcher Lin Zhong told Computer World.

"The density can be further doubled or tripled with two or three layers," he added.

The new technology also requires less power to read, write and maintain content in the memory chips.

The common NAND flash memory - the kind that operates most USB keys and camera memory cards today - requires three wires to read, write and maintain the memory structure. But the new silicone nano-wire technology only requires two, as once a memory is written it requires virtually no power

to maintain.

"The beauty of it is its simplicity," said James Tour, a professor at the university. "I've been told by industry that if you're not in the 3-D memory business in four years, you're not going to be in the memory business. This is perfectly suited for that."