A 20-year old mystery mechanism influencing DRAM cell retention time fluctuation clarified

Hitachi, Ltd., in cooperation with Elpida Memory announced today that they have identified that the leakage current fluctuation of the p-n junction*1) is the primary factor influencing the charge retention time fluctuation of DRAM cells. As DRAM power consumption is strongly influenced by the retention time, clarifying the mechanism involved is expected to contribute to opening the way for new low power DRAM technology.