Gelsinger-backed Nagare Labs' Z2RAM promises SRAM speed at DRAM density

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A small start up thinks it can change the memory inside AI chips. Tom's Hardware reports on Nagare Labs, a Georgia Tech spinout whose capacitorless Z2RAM aims to combine the speed of SRAM with the density of DRAM

Nagare raised a $5 million round led by Playground Global, and former Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger sits on its board. Z2RAM is a gain cell memory designed to be stacked directly on top of AI accelerators, built with standard 300mm DUV tools, and the roadmap goes past 100 layers

The published cell design held data for more than 300 seconds at 85 degrees Celsius, compared with about a tenth of a second for a conventional cell of the same type. That long retention means far less energy spent refreshing the memory

The company projects that its first generation will offer five times the density of SRAM, 14 times the speed of DRAM and three times lower read energy than SRAM. Those are projections rather than measurements, though

Nagare describes its work as still at the lab prototype stage, with no fab yet and sampling targeted within four years. Memory is the biggest bottleneck in AI hardware today, so even a partial success here would be valuable. Gelsinger's involvement suggests serious people think it is worth a shot

Can a small start up shake up the memory industry? And is stacking memory on top of chips the future of computing?

Gelsinger-backed Nagare Labs' capacitorless Z2RAM promises SRAM speed with DRAM density - latest published cell retains data for over 300 seconds at 85°C, but further figures are projectedwww.tomshardware.com