IQE plc and Quinas Technology announced the successful completion of a £1.1 million Innovate UK-funded joint project to develop a scalable production method for the world's first quantum-powered universal memory ULTRA RAM. Innovate UK awarded the consortium, which included Lancaster and Cardiff Universities, a grant for the one-year project, with Quinas coordinating and the majority of funding deployed with IQE. The project saw IQE successfully scale up the manufacture of compound semiconductor layers initially developed by Lancaster University to an industrial process, the first step towards the commercial production of packaged ULTRA RAM tm chips.
In doing so, IQE developed an advanced capability in gallium antimonide and aluminium antimonide epitaxy, representing a world-first for scalable epitaxy for memory devices. ULTRA RAM tm, a dual-use technology which was invented at Lancaster University, combines the non-volatility of a data storage memory, such as flash, with the speed and endurance of a working memory, such as DRAM, while providing significantly improved energy efficiency. ULRA RAM tm target applications will include artificial intelligence, quantum computing, space and defence.
