Peter Clarke EE Times Europe (06/25/2009 7:04 AM EST)

LONDON — Is nonvolatile memory supplier Numonyx BV (Geneva, Switzerland) set to miss its previous timetable for the introduction of a 1-Gbit phase-change memory implemented on a 45-nm manufacturing process technology?

The company had said in 2008 that the 1-Gbit PCM would "on 45-nm" by mid-2009 but is now talking of production by year-end and of packaging and pin-out definitions for mobile applications which may still be under discussion at year-end.

While it is possible to argue about what being "on" a process means; a test chip, a full design or in volume production, it would seem the schedule for production in volume has slipped to the end of 2009.

Numonyx has been supplying selected customers with a 128-Mbit phase-change memory made on a 90-nm process to a NOR-flash-like pin-out since December 2008. This effectively marks the introduction of novel-type of memory that has taken more than 40 years to get from first laboratory research to the field.

That device is being made at the Numonyx R2 facility in Agrate, Italy, and is primarily a vehicle for customer exploration and feedback. Some industry observers have expressed skepticism about PCM taking over from flash non-volatile memory (see Numonyx-Samsung PCM deal: What experts are saying).

Numonyx said it would skip the 65-nm generation in April 2008 adding that it expected to be on a 45-nm process by mid-2009. In December 2008 Glen Hawk, vice president and general manager of the embedded business group, said Numonyx was "on track" to produce a variety of PCM devices on 45-nm in 2009.

This week Ed Doller, chief technology officer of Numonyx, said the 45-nm 1-Gbit PCM is in debug. "The cells are doing what we expect them to do," he said — although this leaves open the possibility of misbehavior at the array- and chip-level and that a re-spin of the memory may be necessary.

Doller said he expects the memory to be sent as samples to wireless OEMs over the coming months and to be in production "by the end of the year."

Things have been made more complex by the announcement that Numonyx and Samsung would work on joint standard definition to allow both companies to produce pin-compatible phase-change memories, presumably a requirement being imposed by potential customers reluctant to commit to buying PCM from a sole source.

Doller said that work with Samsung on a LPDDR2-style interface and pin-out would not delay the production or adoption of phase-change memory. He said Numonyx intends to produce a 1-Gbit PCM with a NOR-flash type of pin configuration as well as supplying a LPDDR2 pin-out device in 2010 aimed at multichip packages for the mobile phone handsets.

Related links and articles:

NXP's phase-change memory looks promising, says CTO

Numonyx, Ovonyx ink further phase-change deal

Numonyx begins commercial supply of phase-change memory

The basics of phase-change memory technology