On Monday Freescale Semiconductor said that the first commercial magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) device is now in volume production and available from Freescale Semiconductor. Potentially, such memory may be used in next-generation applications that require high-speed and non-volatile memory.

Freescale’s first commercial MRAM product, called the MR2A16A, is appropriate for a variety of commercial applications such as networking, security, data storage, gaming and printers. The part is engineered to be a reliable, economical, single-component replacement for battery-backed SRAM units. The device also could be used in cache buffers, configuration storage memories and other applications that require the speed, endurance and non-volatility of MRAM.

The MR2A16A is a commercial temperature range, 3.3V device featuring 35ns read and write cycle times. It is an asynchronous memory organized as 256K words by 16 bits. An industry standard SRAM pinout arrangement allows for system design flexibility without bus contention, according to the manufacturer. The device is housed in a 400 mil TSOP type-II RoHS package. It is manufactured at Freescale’s 200 millimeter Chandler Fab in Arizona.

MRAM uses magnetic materials combined with conventional silicon circuitry to deliver the speed of SRAM with the non-volatility of Flash in a single, high endurance device. Freescale’s successful commercialization of this technology could hasten new classes of electronic products offering dramatic advances in size, cost, power consumption and system performance.

“With the commercialization of MRAM, Freescale is the first-to-market with a technology of tremendous possibilities and profound implications,” said Bob Merritt, Semico Research. “Competition to become the first company to market MRAM technology was fierce. This is a significant achievement that certainly confirms the dedication of Freescale’s engineering team”.