Micron, Lexar Teaming Up Amid Tough Times For Flash Field; $690 Million Merger Planned; Micron would get access to Lexar's controllers as well as retail connections.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: JAMES DETAR

Micron Technology, the biggest U.S. memory chip company, looks to add a little more flash to its product line.

The company Wednesday announced plans to buy Fremont, Calif.-based Lexar Media, which makes flash controllers -- devices that let flash memory chips communicate with electronics in digital cameras, cell phones and other gadgets.

Boise, Idaho-based Micron is best known for its dynamic random access memory chips, or DRAMs -- the most common type of memory chips in personal computers.

In recent years it's begun making Nand-type flash memory chips, which -- unlike DRAMs -- hold data even when their power is …