Status of planar film memory

The planar film memory is presented as the most desirable type of memory on the basis of performance, having greater speed and reliability and lower power consumption. The various factors that have caused these memories to be economically unfeasible are explored with the conclusions that this is no longer the case. Dramatic new breakthroughs in element design and packaging are presented as further causes for a new low-cost potential. It is concluded that planar film memories will start immediately to displace ferrite cores on both a cost and performance basis.