A Chinese research team has developed a revolutionary flash memory device that can store data at a speed of one bit per 400 picoseconds, setting a new record for the fastest semiconductor storage device ever reported.

Named "PoX," this non-volatile memory outperforms even the fastest volatile memory technologies, which take around 1 to 10 nanoseconds to store one bit of data. A picosecond is one-thousandth of a nanosecond or one-trillionth of a second.

Volatile memories like SRAM and DRAM, which lose data on power loss, are ill-suited for low-power systems, while non-volatile memories like flash, though energy-efficient, fail to meet the high-speed data access demands of AI.

Researchers at Fudan University developed a two-dimensional Dirac graphene-channel flash memory using an innovative mechanism, shattering the speed limits of non-volatile information storage and access.

The results were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"By using AI algorithms to optimize process testing conditions, we have significantly advanced this innovation and paved the way for its future applications," said Zhou Peng, the lead researcher of the study from Fudan University.

"This is original work and the novelty is enough for designing the potential future high-speed flash memory," the journal's peer reviewer commented.