Nanotechnology Storing Data To Atoms Judson Haley Josh Tratz Virginia Young Photo reprint Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation copyright 2007 © International Business Machines Corporation http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/22242.wss

Smaller Computer Chips Replacing Silicon Using Atoms

Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) Two IBM scientists in Switzerland won the 1986 Nobel Prize in physics for this 1981 invention. It enabled our first glimpse into the molecular world

Heinrich Rohrer (left) and Gerd Binnig (right) Shown here in 1981 with a first-generation scanning tunneling microscope Schematic diagram of a scanning tunneling microscope Photo reprint Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation copyright 2007 © International Business Machines Corporation http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/22242.wss

IBM Advances Measure magnetic anisotropy at the atomic level Use individual atoms as electric switches Search for atoms that can do it at suitable temperatures

in the "on" and the "off" state Actual STM images of the molecule in the "on" and the "off" state Photo reprint Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation copyright 2007 © International Business Machines Corporation http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/22242.wss

Three-dimensional image of a molecular "logic gate" of two molecules, being probed by the STM Photo reprint Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation copyright 2007 © International Business Machines Corporation http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/22242.wss

Atoms Able to maintain magnetic orientation Suitable for storing data

Old Way Current hard drives use millions of atoms to store each individual bit of information.

Squeeze millions of times more data on to a disk of comparable size. New Way Squeeze millions of times more data on to a disk of comparable size. Storing data in individual atoms could lead to devices capable of storing the equivalent of 30,000 movies in a device the size of an iPod.

Still several years from reality WHEN!?! Still several years from reality  “At least 10 years from being used for components in commercial products”

Resources http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/22242.wss http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/wwwr_thinkresearch.nsf/pages/20070830_atomic.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_23_167/ai_n14791476 http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/31/IBM-stores-data-on-an-atom_1.html http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/08/31/store-your-data-on-an-atom/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fatmaxplorer.com%2Fstore-your-data-on-an-atom%2F&frame=true http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2775.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_tunneling_microscope