New memory chip hundred times faster: Study

London: A new kind of memory chip made from silicon could be a hundred times faster than standard Flash memory chips, British scientists say.

Researchers at the University College London reported in the Journal of Applied Physics that they have developed a new kind of Resistive RAM (ReRAM) memory chip.

The chip is based on materials whose electrical resistance changes when a voltage is applied, and they "remember" this change even when the power is turned off.

ReRAM chips promise significantly greater memory storage than current technology, such as the Flash memory used on USB sticks, and require much less energy and space.

"Our ReRAM memory chips are around a hundred times faster than standard Flash memory chips," Xinhua quoted Tony Kenyon of UCL as saying.