New Memory Types

More and more modern electronic devices need larger memories. For example, take consumer products such as mobile phones and MP3 players. When these were initially released, storage-size was small, with premium models featuring about 512MB of memory. However, now consumers demand their memory in gigabytes; Apple’s latest Ipod boasting 60GB of memory. The desire is for larger storage in smaller spaces, but not at the expense of energy requirements. Current technology makes these demands very difficult to meet, but nanotechnology offers the solution. However, it should be pointed out that most are still in development, and the smaller the components get, the more expensive they are to initially produce.

Nanodots

One such new data-storage device in R&D is the use of nanosized ‘dots’ of nickel which it is hoped could be used to store terabytes of data, even for home and personal users. Considering the relatively large (physically) storage devices we have now, and the fact we tend to currently refer to size in terms of gigabytes, the amazing potential is plain to see.

Each "nanodot" consists of a discrete ball of several hundred nickel atoms and can have one of two magnetic states. This allows them to hold a single bit of information - a '1' or a '0' - as is the computing convention.

In current hard drives, bits (of information) must be placed far enough apart so as not to interfere with each other. Nanodots operate as complete units which are not structurally linked, therefore allowing them to be packed closer together. They arrange themselves at such a density that should allow anything up to 5 terabytes (5000GB) of data to be stored in a space the size of a postage stamp. Work still has to be carried out to allow these nanodots to operate and interact with other computing devices, such as silicon chips, but the technology is definitely showing promise.