Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Global Age

Single-transistor dynamic memory cell (DRAM 1T1C) — Robert H. Dennard

1968 AD · Transmission: Global
ElectronicsInventionNorth American

In 1967-1968, Robert H. Dennard, at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, invented the basic single-transistor, single-capacitor (1T1C) dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cell: each bit is stored as electrical charge on a capacitor, controlled by a single access transistor. This architecture, radically simpler and denser than earlier multi-transistor cells, enabled high-density, low-cost-per-bit semiconductor memories, replacing magnetic core memory. Dennard's 1T1C cell remains, to this day, the fundamental architecture of virtually all main memory (RAM) in modern computers.

InstitutionIBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Historical regionYorktown Heights, New York, U.S.A.
Primary sourceDennard, R.H. — "Field-Effect Transistor Memory," U.S. Patent 3,387,286, filed July 14, 1967, granted June 4, 1968.
Secondary sourceComputer History Museum — "The Storage Engine: 1970 — Semiconductors compete with magnetic cores"
Original languageen
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