RajanUrs
05-04-2004, 06:37 PM
All I can say is: oh my god, oh my god, oh my god :D
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/may052004/snt5.asp
The future of storage is atomic
Scientists have successfully created an atomic-scale memory by using atoms of silicon in place of 1s and 0s, that computers use, to store data. This provides a storage density a million times greater than a CD-ROM
T G SRINIDHI
Imagine a CD with a storage capacity not of 650 MB but 650 million MB. This idea may sound absurd, but scientists believe such a media could really be built. They say that such a storage capacity is theoretically possible, because of experiments using individual atoms to store data.
In 1959, physicist Richard Feynman pointed out that all the words written in the history of the world could be contained in a cube of material one tenth of a millimeter wide - provided those words were written with atoms.
Scientists, now, are trying to develop a practical storage device in which atoms represent bits of information, complying with the dream of Richard Feynman.
They have in fact succeeded in creating an atomic-scale memory by using atoms of silicon in place of the 1s and 0s that computers use to store data. This memory provides a storage density a million times greater than a CD-ROM.
The new memory was made on a silicon surface by lifting out single silicon atoms with the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope.
The gaps left behind represent the bits of data storage.
Getting atomic
Atoms may be among the smallest physical things that can be used to store binary data. The potential of their storage capacity is awesome. For example, a grain of sand contains about 10 million billion atoms!
So, what is keeping the scientists away from creating such a medium?
Though the concept speaks of revolutionary changes, the gap between theory and practice is wide. Conventional data storage uses millions of atoms per bit. But while theoretically it is possible to use single atoms as storage bits, in practice it may take decades to make a practical version of atomic memory.
This is because of the problems of working with individual atoms at room temperature and the data rate at which the information is laid down, and subsequently read out again, is far too slow to be of any use at the moment.
A very ambitious dream indeed!
Though it would need a very long time to realise this, other attempts are also going on in order to achieve higher storage densities.
In one such attempt, a conducting plastic has been used to create a new memory technology with the potential to store a megabit of data in a millimeter-square device - 10 times denser than current magnetic memories. Though this device has nothing to do with atomic memories, it assumes importance in wake of the fact that will be cheaper and significantly faster than most of the devices used presently. However, this device cannot be rewritten, so would only be suitable for permanent storage.
The device sandwiches a blob of a conducting polymer called PEDOT and a silicon diode between two perpendicular wires. The key to this new technology was the discovery that passing a high current through PEDOT turns it into an insulator, rather like blowing a fuse. The polymers two possible states, conductor or insulator, then form the one and zero necessary to store digital data. The chief advantage of this device is that it combines the best of silicon technology - diodes - with the capability to form a fuse, which does not exist in silicon.
However, turning the polymer into an insulator involves a permanent chemical change, meaning the memory can only be written to once. Its creators say this makes it ideal for archiving images and other data directly from a digital camera, cellphone or PDA, like an electronic version of film negatives.
To store the memory, one should use the wires and the diode surrounding the PEDOT blob to run either a high or a low current through it. This either creates an insulator or leaves it as a conductor. To read the memory, a current is run through the top wire and the current in the bottom wire is measured. No current means the bit is a zero, and vice versa.
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/may052004/snt5.asp
The future of storage is atomic
Scientists have successfully created an atomic-scale memory by using atoms of silicon in place of 1s and 0s, that computers use, to store data. This provides a storage density a million times greater than a CD-ROM
T G SRINIDHI
Imagine a CD with a storage capacity not of 650 MB but 650 million MB. This idea may sound absurd, but scientists believe such a media could really be built. They say that such a storage capacity is theoretically possible, because of experiments using individual atoms to store data.
In 1959, physicist Richard Feynman pointed out that all the words written in the history of the world could be contained in a cube of material one tenth of a millimeter wide - provided those words were written with atoms.
Scientists, now, are trying to develop a practical storage device in which atoms represent bits of information, complying with the dream of Richard Feynman.
They have in fact succeeded in creating an atomic-scale memory by using atoms of silicon in place of the 1s and 0s that computers use to store data. This memory provides a storage density a million times greater than a CD-ROM.
The new memory was made on a silicon surface by lifting out single silicon atoms with the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope.
The gaps left behind represent the bits of data storage.
Getting atomic
Atoms may be among the smallest physical things that can be used to store binary data. The potential of their storage capacity is awesome. For example, a grain of sand contains about 10 million billion atoms!
So, what is keeping the scientists away from creating such a medium?
Though the concept speaks of revolutionary changes, the gap between theory and practice is wide. Conventional data storage uses millions of atoms per bit. But while theoretically it is possible to use single atoms as storage bits, in practice it may take decades to make a practical version of atomic memory.
This is because of the problems of working with individual atoms at room temperature and the data rate at which the information is laid down, and subsequently read out again, is far too slow to be of any use at the moment.
A very ambitious dream indeed!
Though it would need a very long time to realise this, other attempts are also going on in order to achieve higher storage densities.
In one such attempt, a conducting plastic has been used to create a new memory technology with the potential to store a megabit of data in a millimeter-square device - 10 times denser than current magnetic memories. Though this device has nothing to do with atomic memories, it assumes importance in wake of the fact that will be cheaper and significantly faster than most of the devices used presently. However, this device cannot be rewritten, so would only be suitable for permanent storage.
The device sandwiches a blob of a conducting polymer called PEDOT and a silicon diode between two perpendicular wires. The key to this new technology was the discovery that passing a high current through PEDOT turns it into an insulator, rather like blowing a fuse. The polymers two possible states, conductor or insulator, then form the one and zero necessary to store digital data. The chief advantage of this device is that it combines the best of silicon technology - diodes - with the capability to form a fuse, which does not exist in silicon.
However, turning the polymer into an insulator involves a permanent chemical change, meaning the memory can only be written to once. Its creators say this makes it ideal for archiving images and other data directly from a digital camera, cellphone or PDA, like an electronic version of film negatives.
To store the memory, one should use the wires and the diode surrounding the PEDOT blob to run either a high or a low current through it. This either creates an insulator or leaves it as a conductor. To read the memory, a current is run through the top wire and the current in the bottom wire is measured. No current means the bit is a zero, and vice versa.