A scientific paper on a pioneering type of patented computer memory known as ULTRARAM™ has been selected as the best of 2022 for the journal Advanced Electronic Materials.

ULTRARAM™ is a novel type of memory with extraordinary properties. It combines the non-volatility of a data storage memory, like flash, with the speed, energy-efficiency and endurance of a working memory, like DRAM.

To do this it utilises the unique properties of compound semiconductors, commonly used in photonic devices such as LEDS, laser diodes and infrared detectors, but not in digital electronics, which is the preserve of silicon.

The paper, which featured on the back cover of the April issue of the journal, describes how ULTRARAM™ has been implemented on silicon substrates, a major step towards mass production.

It has now been selected as the Advanced Electronic Materials article for the 2022 ‘Best of Advanced’ from the publisher Wiley, which compiles the “editors’ selection of some of the most outstanding articles of the year”.

Professor Manus Hayne of the Department of Physics at Lancaster University, who leads the work said: “We are honoured and delighted that Advanced Electronic Materials has singled out our article for ‘Best of the Advanced journals 2022’. Indeed, this accolade could not be more timely, as we are currently forming a spinout company to commercialise ULTRARAM™ technology.”

The research and the other articles selected for the list can be found at Best of the Advanced journals 2022: Advanced Materials (wiley.com).