(1) (Ferromagnetic RAM) A non-volatile memory that records bits on a magnetic surface. See MRAM.

(2) (Ferroelectric RAM) A non-volatile, random access memory technology from Ramtron International Corporation, Colorado Springs, CO (www.ramtron.com). With product shipping since 1993, F-RAM was the first commercial non-volatile RAM on the market using standard CMOS fabrication. It was initially designed as a high-performance alternative to EEPROM memory with write speed that is orders of magnitude faster and virtually unlimited write cycles. Having the attributes of RAM and the non-volatility of flash, F-RAM may eventually replace flash, DRAM and SRAM.

Polarization in a Crystal
F-RAM uses a ferroelectric capacitor composed of a crystal made up of lead and oxygen atoms plus zirconium or titanium. The crystal has two stable states. When an electric field is applied, the zirconium or titanium atom changes position. The read circuit detects the polarity of the atom as a difference in voltage, which determines the 0 or 1.

The ferroelectric name was chosen because the hysteresis characteristic of the capacitor's charge is similar to ferromagnetic materials. It is somewhat misleading because the capacitor is not made of iron (ferrous), and it is not influenced by magnetic fields. See future memory chips.