Quinas Technology is a multi award-winning spin-out from the Physics Department of Lancaster University in the UK. One of the first winners of the IC Taiwan Grand Challenge in the Smart Data & AI category, Quinas Technology introduced ULTRARAM, an energy-efficient universal memory with a unique, innovative and highly disruptive approach. ULTRARAM uses the band engineering properties of III-V compound semiconductors, allowing it to exploit quantum-mechanics to achieve its remarkable properties.

Memory as an Enabling Technology

The memory market is experiencing rapid growth, with semiconductors emerging as the basic building blocks of most modern technologies. This trend is also supported by the proliferation of both data and devices; especially with the rise of AI and IoT devices in consumer and professional applications. Among the many types of memory, Flash and DRAM currently dominate the market and are typically used in combination to overcome their individual weaknesses. Flash is used as a low-cost, non-volatile memory to store the user’s data, but is slow and has poor endurance. In contrast DRAM is fast with excellent endurance and is used as system memory, but it is expensive ($/GB) and requires constant refreshing to prevent data loss. A 'universal memory' that can combine the best properties of DRAM and flash into a single memory without any of their shortcomings would enable the high-performance devices of tomorrow.

Introducing IC Taiwan Grand Challenge

To boost Taiwan's position as a global semiconductor powerhouse, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) organizes the IC Taiwan Grand Challenge. Focusing on teams actively leveraging innovative IC design to develop advanced application solutions or enhanced technologies, the ICTGC puts special attention to teams in the fields of Smart Data & AI, Smart Mobility, Smart Manufacturing, Smart Medtech, and Sustainability. Quinas was selected as a winner in the Smart Data & AI category due to the potential of its novel ULTRARAM memory technology.

ULTRARAM: A Revolutionary Universal Memory

Founded in February 2023, Quinas aims to commercialize ULTRARAM and an associated field-effect inverter logic. By exploiting a quantum-mechanical process called resonant tunneling, ULTRARAM delivers non-volatility with fast and energy-efficient write and erase, resulting in high endurance; essentially achieving the non-volatility of flash, with a performance that is expected to exceed that of DRAM with far lower energy consumption.

ULTRARAM has a non-volatility of >1000 years, endurance of >>10⁷ program/erase cycles, intrinsic switching speeds that exceed DRAM, and a switching energy that is 100x better than DRAM, 1,000x better than flash and >10,000x better than other emerging memories. This unprecedented combination of properties makes ULTRARAM a true universal memory and a DRAM replacement. Applications stretch across many different industries including: HPC - Datacenter & Cloud/ Edge AI, Space & Defense, Consumer & Industrial electronics, IoT, Automotive & Autonomy, Health, Finance, and Quantum Computing.

ULTRARAM has received 2 US and 1 Japan patent with more pending in China, Europe, Japan and S. Korea, with GB (GB2621971A) and international (WO2024003523A1) patents pending on the FEI logic. Further work is also ongoing to improve quality, fine-tune the fabrication process and scale devices.

As one of the first winners of the IC Taiwan Grand Challenge, Quinas Technology will also join the Taiwan Innotech Expo (TIE) event from October 17 – 19, 2024 in TWTC Hall 1. Interested parties are welcome to visit Quinas Technology in TIE for their exhibition and pitch & demo event.