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Magnetic RAM - MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory)
MRAM is similar to our current DRAM in the way it functions. It still uses bit-lines and word-lines with the data storage units at the junctions of the grid. The difference in the case of MRAM is in the way the data is stored. Instead of a positive or negatively charged capacitor, there is a piece of metal that can be given a positive or negative magnetic charge. The benefits of MRAM are that the chips use far less power than DRAM since the charges don't need to be continuously refreshed to retain the data. Also, MRAM is a non-volatile technology, which means that once you power down your device it still retains all the information whereas with DRAM the information is lost without a continuous flow of electricity. IBM is currently developing both Magnetic RAM and Holographic RAM.
Holographic RAM - HDSS (Holographic desktop storage system)
Holographic storage, or HDSS, uses the split beam of an argon laser to create a holographic image out of a series of clear and dark boxes, each box representing a single bit or character in binary code. Unlike MRAM or the current DRAM technology where the data is retrieved on bit at a time, with HDSS an entire page of data is stored and retrieved with each cycle so the access times are very fast. HDSS is also capable of storing huge quantities of information in a small area, up to one terabyte (1 million megabytes) in a crystal the size of a sugar cube.
Nano-memory
Built using carbon nano-tubes whose walls are only one atom thick, This technology is designed to be non-volatile so it would function as not only computer RAM but could also replace NAND type flash memory. Under different electrical conditions the tubes are either straight for a negative charge, or bend and make contact with an electrode layer just beneath the tubes for the positive charge. It is also designed to have a faster data transfer rate than standard RAM and should generate a lot less heat so it will consume considerably less power as well.
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