IBM announces two breakthroughs on nano data storage and transistors
Posted on August 31st 2007 in Science, Future Technology
Data storage through spin direction change
The ability of an atom to record data due to its magnetism anisotropy (different value in different directions for the same characteristic in a substance, this time magnetism) is nothing new. IBM has already done significant research on this years back, but the new development is that IBM published two new papers in Science Weekly. These papers explain the possibilities of data storage and stable transistor behavior of molecules (something also not so new, but previous attempts didn’t preserve the functionality for long - unstable behavior).
To sum it up, if you cause the atom to spin in different directions you can store a lot of data on it (a cluster of atoms could hold as much as a 1000 trillion bits of data!), which means that millions of videos on, say YouTube, can be stored on a device the size of an iPod. On the other hand, IBM made a working experiment achieving stability with Naphthalocyanine molecules that react to change states between something we’d call “on” and “off” (0 or 1). This means the molecules would act as transistors and would enable data processing through logic gates (0 = block current, 1 = pass current).
Read in more detail at IBM Press Room.
Actual electron microscope image of Naphthalocyanine molecule in action
Computer simulation of Naphthalocyanine molecule
