The world's top researchers gathered in San Francisco to attend the IEEE International Electronic Components Conference (IEDM). It is the spirit of this insightful detail that a Stanford team presented a paper at the conference. H. S. Philip Wong, a graduate of IBM's electronic engineer, guided the team to delve into a new type of data storage technology. For smart phones and other mobile devices, energy-efficient is essential, so this kind of data storage technology will be ideal for these devices. This new technology product called resistive memory, abbreviated as RRAM. Resistive memory is based on a new type of semiconductor material that is capable of forming state values ​​"0" and "1" in a manner that blocks or allows passage of electron flow. Jiang Zizheng, a graduate student at the Stanford University team, explained the relevant basic theories. She said that resistive memory material is an insulator that does not allow current to pass under normal conditions. However, in some cases, the insulator can be induced to allow it to pass through the stream of electrons. In the past, resistive memory material with electric field oscillations can result in a path that allows the flow of electrons through. This path is called conductive filament. In order to block the conductive filaments, researchers applied another shock to make the material back into an insulator. Each shock switches the resistive memory status value from "0" to "1" or, conversely, allows the material to be used for data storage. But electricity is not the only force that pushes electrons into any material and raises its temperature. This is the principle of electric furnace. The question is what voltage / temperature status should I apply? "To answer that question, we had to examine separately the effects of voltage and temperature on the formation of conductive filaments," said Wang Ziwen, another graduate student at the team. Researchers at Stanford University must heat resistive memory materials without using an electric field at all, so they put the resistive memory chips on a Micro-Heat Station (MTS) unit. This is a complex hot plate that produces a wide range of temperature variations within the material. The purpose, of course, is not just to heat the material, but to measure how conductive filaments are formed. The researchers observed that conductive filaments can be more effectively formed when the ambient temperature is between 80 degrees Fahrenheit and 260 degrees Fahrenheit. 260 degrees Fahrenheit is slightly higher than the boiling water temperature, which is obviously different from the previously considered hotter the better guess. This is good news for follow-up studies, as the operating wafer switching temperature can be achieved by the duration of the voltage and electrical shock. Achieving effective switching at lower temperatures means less power consumption, which makes resistive memory more energy efficient. Therefore, when used as a memory for mobile devices, battery life will be extended. "Now we are able to use voltage and temperature as a design input in a predictive way, which will allow us to design better memory devices," said Professor Huang.