By Michael Kanellos, 31 August 2007 08:40
NEWS
Researchers at IBM will have two papers published in the journal Science this week detailing how it may be possible to use individual atoms, or groups of atoms, to store data or act as a transistor.
The work revolves around harnessing magnetic anisotropy - a property of atoms. Something is anisotrophic if it has different values when it faces in different directions. If a substance is anisotrophic and the orientation of the substance can be controlled, then the atom's orientation - the theory goes - can come to represent the ones and zeros of digital computing.
Potentially, atomic-level storage or switching could result in incredibly tiny computers. With atomic storage, you could fit 1,000 trillion bits of information in an iPod, according to IBM estimates.
In the first paper, entitled "Large Magnetic Anisotropy of a Single Atomic Spin Embedded in a Surface Molecular Network", researchers described how they arranged individual iron atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope on a specially prepared copper surface. With the atoms in place, the researchers were then able to measure the strength and orientation of the anisotrophy of the individual atoms.
The second paper, meanwhile, describes the performance of a switch created from two hydrogen atoms inside an organic molecule called naphthalocyanine. Researchers have made single atom switches before but the molecules had a tendency to change shapes. This problem has not, so far, surfaced in the IBM molecular switch.
Michael Kanellos writes for CNET News.com
Comments
There is 1 comment. Join the discussion
1. Joe Whitehead
Ooooo cool, when do I get my quantum PC with nearly infinite RAM?
Seriously though, there's some nice technology being made. We're back to the same point we were when the transistor was first being made. The analogy to ICs is going to be the room temperature qubit arrays controlled by a desktop 'console'. (See video cards)