Honeywell develops nonvolatile magnetic solid-state memory for strategic space applications

Honeywell Inc. in Minneapolis has developed a one-million-bit nonvolatile static memory component for strategic space electronics applications. Built with Honeywell’s radiation-hardened, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, and combined with magnetic thin films, the new memory component provides high reliability for low-voltage systems operating in radiation environments. “This development provides a proven nonvolatile memory component for use in strategic space electronics to either replace plated wire memory or for new systems designs,” says David Wick, director of microelectronic sales at the Honeywell Defense and Space segment. The Magnetic RAM runs from a 3.3-volt power supply and has high reliability, enabling it to operate through the natural radiation found in space. It offers nearly unlimited read/write cycles (>1e15) and uses Honeywell’s 150-nanometer SOI CMOS technology as well as a unique set of wafer processes developed at the company’s “Trusted Foundry” in Plymouth, Minn. “The HXNV0100 is the first of its kind among nonvolatile memory products,” Wick says. “The memory array and control electronics are both radiation hardened.” More information is available at www.honeywell.com/radhard.