TRLabs Announces Disruptive Technology Challenge Winner

June 25, 2009 -- Edmonton – A technology that proposes to revolutionize computer memory has been selected as the winner of TRLabs' Disruptive Technology Challenge (DTC).

Entitled "A Nano-Spintronic Memory Circuit Patterned at 1012 bits/cm2," a line of research inquiry being pursued by TRLabs Research Scientist and U of A Assistant Professor Dr. Sandipan Pramanik involves use of carbon nanotubes to create a new form of very high density universal memory circuit. The award of approximately $250K ($62.5K/year for each of four years) will be used to fund three Ph.D. student scholarships.

"What if tomorrow we woke up and we could take the information on a Blu-ray disk, add 40 times more information, and shrink it down to the size of a dime?" TRLabs VP Research Rainer Iraschko asks. "The way we process and store information would advance to the point that in theory, everything we do as society could be stored in perpetuity." Iraschko says that the fact that the DTC winner is able to potentially answer his question is why this research activity is a perfect fit with the intent of the DTC. "This technology could move an entire industry. The risk and capitalization requirement is far greater. But the potential reward is exponentially higher, and what we learn along the way can have benefits for our shorter-term industry interactions."

"This award will be instrumental in initiating a research program focused on developing carbon nanotube memory chips," says Dr. Pramanik. "This project has several technological challenges, and this award enables us to assemble a team of researchers, build the necessary infrastructure, and address these problems in a systematic manner."

The quest for universal memory isn't new. What's new in Dr. Pramanik's research is the approach. A novel technique deeply rooted in nanotechnology and spintronics allows the team to arrange carbon nanotubes in high density arrays and encode logic bits (in a non-volatile fashion) in each nanotube. The research pursues what is considered to be the 'Holy Grail' of next generation computer memory – universal memory – that offers the potential of an order of magnitude triple play benefit: smaller size; improvement in non-volatile memory storage density; and substantially reduced cost.

Dr. Pramanik's work in this area to date points to potential for a single, universal memory chip to have a storage capacity of 1000 GB in an area of one square centimetre, compared to approximately 25 GB for a Blu-ray disc (and 5 GB for a normal DVD) that typically occupies 100 square centimetres.

The winning entry was selected from 22 received, and six short-listed, proposals. A DTC Committee, comprised of seven people representing TRLabs, industry, and academia, evaluated the proposals and recommended the winning entry. The DTC is designed to nurture information and communications technology innovation that has the potential to disrupt or create markets, disrupt current thinking in a field, or provoke new avenues of research with strong commercialization potential. Future editions of the Disruptive Technology Challenge are envisioned.

About TRLabs
TRLabs is a tri-partite, not-for-profit applied research information and communication technology consortium with an industry-led pre-competitive research and development program. TRLabs fast tracks innovation to market by creating innovative technologies, training students, and working with its partners to accelerate technology commercialization. Labs in Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, and Winnipeg employ 249. With 69 partner members representing a unique synergy of industry, government, and university, technology and applications research focuses on three research themes: Connected Media; eHealth; and eHome. In its 23-year existence, TRLabs has trained 904 highly skilled university graduates, created 369 technologies adopted for use by companies, and generated 83 active patents (issued or filed).

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