IT Home October 28 news: Tech media semiconleadersasia published a blog post yesterday (October 27), reporting that former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is supporting memory startup Nagare Labs in developing next-generation storage technology Z2RAM through the venture capital firm Playground Global.
The company recently completed a US$5 million seed funding round (IT Home note: approximately 33,405,000 RMB at current exchange rates) led by Playground Global, aiming to build AI computing memory that combines SRAM speed with DRAM density to alleviate the "memory wall" bottleneck.
Z2RAM was developed by Nagare Labs, founded by Georgia Tech researchers Suman Datta and Shimeng Yu, uses oxide semiconductor materials, and plans to be integrated directly above logic chips via 3D hybrid bonding.
Z2RAM's key selling point is its use of standard back-end-of-line (BEOL) processes, forming multi-layer storage structures with a single exposure without requiring extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), which is expected to increase density while reducing manufacturing complexity and cost.
Unlike traditional DRAM, which relies on capacitors to store charge, Z2RAM uses transistor-based memory cells that enable non-destructive reads, which is expected to reduce access latency. The startup also plans to vertically stack memory cells like NAND flash, with its initial implementation targeting a bit density of more than 5 times that of SRAM.
However, this technology is still at the laboratory prototype stage. Nagare Labs is seeking R&D and manufacturing partners to overcome the capacity limitations of university cleanrooms; the company plans to release working Z2RAM memory chip samples within four years and achieve commercial delivery within the next decade.
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