Dynamic RAM

Robert Dennard, IBM, USA, patent 3,387,286 of 1968. One transistor, one capacitor: memory's law.

Overview

Dennard's one-transistor, one-capacitor cell, patented 1968, shrank memory a thousandfold per dollar per decade. DRAM scaling rode Moore's law into every computer, phone, and console. IBM cross-licensed it broadly, and Japanese then Korean fabs, following the design, made memory a geopolitics-scale industry. Dennard's 1974 scaling paper became the industry's other commandment. The 3,387,286 cell still sits under every gigabyte you own.