Cold testing of conductive bridging random access memory for space applications

This paper investigates the reliability of off the shelf Conductive Bridging Random Access Memory (CBRAM) chips under exposure to cold temperatures. In comparison to electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or Flash memory, de-facto standards in spaceflight, CBRAM features radiation resistance, low power consumption, and high read and write speeds. In testing commercial grade and radiation resistant medical grade CBRAM chips, in biased (powered, actively used) and unbiased configurations, we show that: (a) unbiased chips exhibit no reading or writing errors after exposure to - 150°C; (b) nearly all (97%) of the 32 biased chips that were tested to - 50°C were still functional while (c) 75% of all 48 biased chips that were tested down to -75°C were functional. We detected no difference in performance between medical grade and non-medical grade chips, and every chip was fully functional once brought back to room temperature. With the ability to endure space radiation, operate on low power, and function with only minimal heating, CBRAM has potential as a memory solution on satellites or in space instruments.