to make MRAM competitive even with flash memory. The techniques are Thermal Assisted Switching (TAS), developed by Crocus Technology, and Spin-transfer torque on which Crocus, Hynix, IBM, and other companies were working in 2009. PRAM is based on a technology similar to that in a writable CD or DVD, using a phase-change material that changes its magnetic or electrical properties instead of its optical ones. The PRAM material itself is scalable but requires a larger current source. History Nantero was founded in 2001, and headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts. Due to the massive investment in flash semiconductor fabrication plants, no alternative memory has replaced flash in the marketplace, despite predictions as early as 2003 of the impending speed and density of NRAM. In 2005, NRAM was promoted as universal memory, and Nantero predicted it would be in production by the end of 2006. In August 2008, Lockheed Martin acquired an exclusive license for government applications of Nantero's intellectual property. By early 2009, Nantero had 30 US patents and 47 employees, but was still in the engineering phase. In May 2009, a radiation-resistant version of NRAM was tested on the STS-125 mission of the US . The company was quiet until another round of funding and collaboration with the Belgian research center imec was announced in November 2012. Nantero raised a total of over $42 million through the November 2012 series D round. Investors included Charles River Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Globespan Capital Partners, Stata Venture Partners and Harris & Harris Group. In May 2013, Nantero completed series D with an investment by Schlumberger. EE Times listed Nantero as one of "10 top startups to watch in 2013". 31 Aug 2016: Two Fujitsu semiconductor businesses are licensing Nantero NRAM technology with joint Nantero–Fujitsu development to produce chips in 2018. They will have several thousand times faster rewrites and many thousands of times more rewrite cycles than embedded flash memory. See also RAM Magnetoresistive random-access memory Phase-change memory Ferroelectric RAM Nanocrystal References External links Nantero's NRAM page Non-volatile random-access memory Nanomaterials Emerging technologies