Atomic-scale memory

Cory Doctorow 8:17 pm Fri Sep 6, 2002

Nice techy piece on the theory and practice of atomic-scale memory.

A two-dimensional version of Feynman's atomic memory is formed on the surface of silicon by a small amount of gold (below on the right). It looks similar to the CD-ROM on the left, but the scale is in nanometers instead of micrometers. That means the storage density is a million times higher. Extra silicon atoms (white) sit on top of self-assembled tracks that are formed by the gold. Each track is exactly five atoms wide. It is suggestive to assign an extra silicon atom to a 1 and a vacancy to a 0. The minimum empty area required around each bit is 5×4=20 atoms, 4 atoms along the track and 5 atoms from one track to the next. Feynman's 1959 suggestion of spacing the bits 5 atoms apart was right on the mark.

Link

Discuss

(Thanks, Bruce!)

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