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research team at Fudan University has built the fastest semiconductor storage device ever reported, a non‑volatile flash memory dubbed “PoX” that programs a single bit in 400 picoseconds (0.0000000004 s) — roughly 25 billion operations per second. The result, published today in Nature, pushes non‑volatile memory to a speed domain previously reserved for the quickest volatile memories and sets a benchmark for data‑hungry AI hardware.
The Fudan group, led by Prof. Zhou Peng at the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, re‑engineered flash physics by replacing silicon channels with two‑dimensional Dirac graphene and exploiting its ballistic charge transport.
By tuning the “Gaussian length” of the channel, the team achieved two‑dimensional super‑injection, which is an effectively limitless charge surge into the storage layer that bypasses the classical injection bottleneck.
“Using AI‑driven process optimization, we drove non‑volatile memory to its theoretical limit,” Zhou told Xinhua, adding that the feat “paves the way for future high‑speed flash memory.”
Because PoX is non‑volatile, it retains data with no standby power, a critical property for next‑generation edge AI and battery‑constrained systems. Combining ultra‑low energy with picosecond write speeds could remove the long‑standing memory bottleneck in AI inference and training hardware, where data shuttling, not arithmetic, now dominates power budgets.
If mass‑produced, PoX‑style memory could eliminate separate high‑speed SRAM caches in AI chips, slashing area and energy. It can enable instant‑on, low‑power laptopsand phones, and support database engines that hold entire working sets in persistent RAM.
The device can also strengthen China’s domestic drive to secure leadership in foundational chip technologies. The team did not disclose endurance figures or fabrication yield, but the graphene channel suggests compatibility with existing 2D‑material processes that global fabs are already exploring. “Our breakthrough can reshape storage technology, drive industrial upgrades and open new application scenarios,” Zhou said.
If successful, PoX could come in as a new class of ultra‑fast, ultra‑green memories that meet the swelling appetite of large‑language‑model accelerators, finally giving AI hardware a storage medium that keeps pace with its logic.
Source: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/china-worlds-fastest-flash-memory-device
Smashing the speed ceiling
Conventional static and dynamic RAM (SRAM, DRAM) write data in 1–10 nanoseconds but lose everything when power is cut. Flash chips, by contrast, hold data without power yet typically need micro‑ to milliseconds per write — far too slow for modern AI accelerators that shunt terabytes of parameters in real time.The Fudan group, led by Prof. Zhou Peng at the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, re‑engineered flash physics by replacing silicon channels with two‑dimensional Dirac graphene and exploiting its ballistic charge transport.
By tuning the “Gaussian length” of the channel, the team achieved two‑dimensional super‑injection, which is an effectively limitless charge surge into the storage layer that bypasses the classical injection bottleneck.
“Using AI‑driven process optimization, we drove non‑volatile memory to its theoretical limit,” Zhou told Xinhua, adding that the feat “paves the way for future high‑speed flash memory.”
One billion cycles in a blink
Co‑author Liu Chunsen likens the breakthrough to shifting from a U‑disk that writes 1,000 times per second to a chip that fires 1 billion times in the blink of an eye. The previous world record for non‑volatile flash programming speed was about two million operations per second.Because PoX is non‑volatile, it retains data with no standby power, a critical property for next‑generation edge AI and battery‑constrained systems. Combining ultra‑low energy with picosecond write speeds could remove the long‑standing memory bottleneck in AI inference and training hardware, where data shuttling, not arithmetic, now dominates power budgets.
Industrial and strategic implications
Flash memory remains a cornerstone of global semiconductor strategy thanks to its cost and scalability. Fudan’s advance, reviewers say, offers a “completely original mechanism” that may disrupt that landscape.If mass‑produced, PoX‑style memory could eliminate separate high‑speed SRAM caches in AI chips, slashing area and energy. It can enable instant‑on, low‑power laptopsand phones, and support database engines that hold entire working sets in persistent RAM.
The device can also strengthen China’s domestic drive to secure leadership in foundational chip technologies. The team did not disclose endurance figures or fabrication yield, but the graphene channel suggests compatibility with existing 2D‑material processes that global fabs are already exploring. “Our breakthrough can reshape storage technology, drive industrial upgrades and open new application scenarios,” Zhou said.
What happens next
Fudan engineers are now scaling the cell architecture and pursuing array‑level demonstrations. Commercial partners have not been named, but Chinese foundries are racing to integrate 2D materials with mainstream CMOS lines.If successful, PoX could come in as a new class of ultra‑fast, ultra‑green memories that meet the swelling appetite of large‑language‑model accelerators, finally giving AI hardware a storage medium that keeps pace with its logic.
Source: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/china-worlds-fastest-flash-memory-device
