http://www.righto.com/2024/09/ramtron-ferroelectric-fram-die.html
Ferroelectric memory (FRAM) is an interesting storage technique that stores bits in a special "ferroelectric" material. Ferroelectric memory is nonvolatile like flash memory, able to hold its data for decades. But, unlike flash, ferroelectric memory can write data rapidly. Moreover, FRAM is much more durable than flash and can be be written trillions of times. With these advantages, you might wonder why FRAM isn't more popular. The problem is that FRAM is much more expensive than flash, so it is only used in niche applications.
[...] The history of ferroelectric memory dates back to the early 1950s.3 Many companies worked on FRAM from the 1950s to the 1970s, including Bell Labs, IBM, RCA, and Ford. The 1955 photo below shows a 256-bit ferroelectric memory built by Bell Labs. Unfortunately, ferroelectric memory had many problems,4 limiting it to specialized applications, and development was mostly abandoned by the 1970s.
Ferroelectric memory had a second chance, though. A major proponent of ferroelectric memory was George Rohrer, who started working on ferroelectric memory in 1968. He formed a memory company, Technovation, which was unsuccessful, and then cofounded Ramtron in 1984.5 Ramtron produced a tiny 256-bit memory chip in 1988, followed by much larger memories in the 1990s.
(Score: 3, Informative) by kazzie on Sunday September 29, @03:53PM (3 children)
I'm familiar with FRAM chips having replaced a worn-out one in a Sonic 3 cartridge for the Mega Drive. New (or new old-stock) FRAM chips are available, but not in the original DIL through-hole footprint, so I used an adapter board to break-out the connections from a surface-mount replacement. (See an example procedure at Hackaday [hackaday.io].)
Note that Sonic 3 used a parallel FRAM chip (many pins), whereas Ken disassembled a serial (I2C) chip.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29, @06:01PM (2 children)
I'm curious, how did it wear out?
(Score: 2) by Uncle_Al on Sunday September 29, @07:44PM (1 child)
https://oldbytes.space/@kenshirriff/113188569668376290 [oldbytes.space]
"There are multiple factors that limit the number of writes that FRAMs can handle: changes in crystal structure
as Ti ions replace O, mobile ions collecting at grain boundaries, and something to do with 90ยบ domains."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 29, @09:40PM
rust?