New silicon memory chip may offer super-fast memory - China IPL Hair Removal Equipment

Resistive RAM (or 'ReRAM') memory chips are based on materials,most often oxides of metals, whose electrical resistance changeswhen a voltage is applied -- and they "remember" thischange even when the power is turned off. ReRAM chips promise significantly greater memory storage thancurrent technology, such as the Flash memory used on USB sticks,and require much less energy and space. The UCL team have developed a novel structure composed of siliconoxide, described in a recent paper in the Journal of Applied Physics , which performs the switch in resistance much more efficientlythan has been previously achieved. In their material, thearrangement of the silicon atoms changes to form filaments ofsilicon within the solid silicon oxide, which are less resistive.The presence or absence of these filaments represents a 'switch'from one state to another. Unlike other silicon oxide chips currently in development, the UCLchip does not require a vacuum to work, and is thereforepotentially cheaper and more durable.

The design also raises thepossibility of transparent memory chips for use in touch screensand mobile devices. The team have been backed by UCLB, UCL's technology transfercompany, and have recently filed a patent on their device.Discussions are ongoing with a number of leading semiconductorcompanies. Dr Tony Kenyon, UCL Electronic and Electrical Engineering, said:"Our ReRAM memory chips need just a thousandth of the energyand are around a hundred times faster than standard Flash memorychips. The fact that the device can operate in ambient conditionsand has a continuously variable resistance opens up a huge range ofpotential applications.

"We are also working on making a quartz device with a view todeveloping transparent electronics." For added flexibility, the UCL devices can also be designed to havea continuously variable resistance that depends on the last voltagethat was applied. This is an important property that allows thedevice to mimic how neurons in the brain function. Devices thatoperate in this way are sometimes known as 'memristors'. This technology is currently of enormous interest, with the firstpractical memristor, based on titanium dioxide, demonstrated injust 2008. Ultrasonic Cavitation Slimming Machine

The development of a silicon oxide memristor is a hugestep forward because of the potential for its incorporation intosilicon chips. The team's new ReRAM technology was discovered by accident whilstengineers at UCL were working on using the silicon oxide materialto produce silicon-based LEDs. During the course of the project,researchers noticed that their devices appeared to be unstable. UCL PhD student, Adnan Mehonic, was asked to look specifically atthe material's electrical properties. He discovered that thematerial wasn't unstable at all, but flipped between variousconducting and non-conducting states very predictably. China IPL Hair Removal Equipment

Adnan Mehonic, also from the UCL Department of Electronic andElectrical Engineering, said: "My work revealed that amaterial we had been looking at for some time could in fact be madeinto a memristor. "The potential for this material is huge. During proof ofconcept development we have shown we can programme the chips usingthe cycle between two or more states of conductivity. We're veryexcited that our devices may be an important step towards newsilicon memory chips." The technology has promising applications beyond memory storage.The team are also exploring using the resistance properties oftheir material not just for use in memory but also as a computerprocessor. China Multifunction Beauty Machine

The work was funded by the Engineering and Physical SciencesResearch Council.

Hopes fading for swift u.s., pakistan deal on afghan supply routes - LED Flood Lamp Manufacturer

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Obama administration may be not be able to strikea long-awaited agreement with Pakistan to help supply Westernsoldiers in Afghanistan as hoped in time for a major NATO summit inChicago this weekend, a U.S. official said. "There's a distinct possibility that we may not see an agreementbefore the end of this weekend," the U.S. official said oncondition of anonymity.

"But talks are progressing and we do expectto reach a deal in the near future." Earlier this week, as Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari accepteda last-minute NATO invitation to the May 20-21 summit, many U.S.officials were optimistic they could finally make a deal to reopenkey NATO ground routes into Afghanistan. Pakistan shut the routesin protest when U.S. aircraft killed 24 Pakistani soldiers alongthe Afghan border in November. Zardari's appearance at the summit was seen as a potentialbreakthrough after the border deaths plunged perennially poorU.S.-Pakistan ties into a deep freeze for months. Now, as the two countries continue to disagree about details of apossible deal, that optimism appears to have faded.

NATO nations, grappling with severe fiscal pressure at home, areanxious to reach an agreement under which Pakistan would allow NATOtrucks to once again travel on Pakistani roads, in part becauseshipping supplies into land-locked Afghanistan from the north ismuch more expensive. Being able to transit across Pakistan becomes even more importantas U.S. commanders prepare for the monumental logistical task ofwithdrawing most of the 128,000 NATO soldiers in Afghanistan - andthe equipment they have accumulated since 2001 - by the end of2014. Negotiations between U.S. Outdoor Led Flood Lights

and Pakistani officials in Islamabad havedragged on. From the beginning, Zardari's government has demanded a high-levelapology for the border deaths, which NATO said were accidental butwhich enraged Pakistanis. The Obama administration, loathe to expose itself to furtherRepublican criticism, has refused to apologize. The U.S. LED Flood Lamp Manufacturer

official said a "wide gulf" remained on the amount NATOnations would be charged for transporting equipment intoAfghanistan, the central stumbling block in those talks. Pakistan says its roads require millions of dollars in repairsafter years of NATO truck going back and forth. The amount thatPakistani officials believe should be charged is far higher thanwhat U.S. officials have offered. LED Tube Lights T8

"The fees proposed by the Pakistanis are unacceptable, not just tothe United States but to our NATO allies," the official said. Lack of an agreement could add strains to interactions betweenPresident Barack Obama and other senior U.S. officials andPakistani leaders during the summit. U.S.

officials have longcomplained that Pakistan has failed to act sufficiently againstmilitants fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The White House said on Thursday that Obama had no plans for aone-on-one meeting with Zardari. Still, Zardari's government supports reopening the supply routesonce a deal can be reached that satisfies both sides. For thatreason the Obama administration expects to ultimately find anarrangement on the supply routes and on the precise amount of U.S.military assistance Washington owes Pakistan.