In the quest for higher and higher capacity flash chips, manufacturers are now begining to face a wall that can limit just how small a flash cell can be made. Motorola may have just found way around this problem.
The nanocrystal layer is far thinner than the silicon dioxide, Chang said. In fact, it's not even solid, and more like frost on a window. Although silicon is traditionally an electrical conductor, at these levels the quantum nature of the material takes over, and it becomes an insulator, trapping electrons and thereby retaining data.
AnandTech Mar 31st
