report
8.4.5 Additional demand for research

Cell Size

The cell size affects the storage density of the memory, expressed in measurements like Gb/inch. Some issues with MRAM include the challenge that as memory cell sizes shrink, the current used to change the polarity of the writeable layer can also affect surrounding cells. An approach to addressing this is the ‘toggle mode'.

Cost

Existing technologies like flash are still able to demonstrate decreasing costs per unit of storage. To supplant existing technologies in mass market applications, nanotechnology based approaches will need to demonstrate increasing cost-effectiveness. The cost of MRAM in 2006 was reported to be $25/0.5MB, versus Flash at $25/GB.

The cost of new technology approaches is mainly related to their manufacturing requirements. Those technologies that can be created using standard CMOS fab stand a better chance of being cost-effective.