Science & Technology

Scientists achieve atom-sized data storage

By T.K. Randall
July 21, 2016

Image: Backlit Keyboard
Credit: Colin via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Today's largest consumer hard drives can store up to 10 terabytes of data, but now in a new paper published on Monday, scientists have described a method of atomic storage that could make it possible to store up to 500 times more data per square inch than today's hard drives.

The technique involves creating 8x8 blocks of chlorine atoms with each pair of missing (or filled in) atoms representing a single bit ( either a 1 or 0 ) - the smallest unit of data in a computer.The concept was tested by storing the text of a classic lecture by scientist Richard Feynman.

"Once the memory was built, all read and write protocols were fully automated," said Associate Professor Sander Otte. "Also the building itself was mostly automated."

While it is likely to be a long time yet before we will see atomic hard drives in the shops, this fascinating new technology holds the potential to increase available disk space exponentially.


Source: Mashable

Tags: Computer, Data Storage, Atom