Crystalline memories

Motorola hopes that it's come up with ways to keep on shrinking flash memory cells, which may not downsize to very small IC geometries. Silicon nanocrystals are the basis of thin-film storage techniques that were recently demonstrated in a 4 Mbit memory. Crystal spheres measuring 50 angstroms in diameter fit between oxide layers in the chips made on a 90-nanometer device production line in Austin, TX. Motorola hopes to begin producing nanocrystal memories by 2004. To find out more, visit www.motorola.com.