A kilobyte rewritable atomic memory
Themes: Materials, High Tech
Late lab scale demonstration
A TRL is a measure to indicate the matureness of a developing technology. When an innovative idea is discovered it is often not directly suitable for application. Usually such novel idea is subjected to further experimentation, testing and prototyping before it can be implemented. The image below shows how to read TRL’s to categorise the innovative ideas.
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Why?
Every day, modern society creates more than a billion gigabytes of new data. To cope with this ever increasing quantity of data, this new storage technique represents each bit by a single atom.
How?
A self-organised two-dimensional layer of chlorine atoms on a copper crystal surface is manipulated with scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) technology. Uniquely, the data is stored in missing atoms (vacancies), rather than actual atoms, offering superior control and robustness.
When?
A successful 1 kilobyte proof of concept with a storage density ~500 times higher as state-of-the-art hard disk drives has been developed. It is stable up to 77K. Companies that can take on further development towards commercial application are being sought.
Dr. Sander Otte