As we are not going to see scanning tunnelling microscopes included in our home computers anytime soon this experiment is simply proof of the concept that data can be stored on a single atom. That does not make it any less interesting for those fascinated by atomic storage techniques. A single atom of holmium can be made to spin either up or down, signifying either a 0 or 1, and that spin state can be 'read' by measuring the vibration of a single iron atom located close by. The holmium atoms used for storage can be separated by a mere nanometer without interfering with the spin of its neighbours. The spin state only lasts a few hours but shows that this could someday be a viable storage technology. You can read more at nanotechweb, who also have links to the Nature article.
"Information has been stored in a single atom for the first time. The nascent binary memory was created by Andreas Heinrich at the Institute of Basic Science in South Korea and an international team."
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0.301 nm tech confirmed.
0.301 nm tech confirmed.
If it requires a second atom
If it requires a second atom to read the first wouldn’t that be two atom storage?
Not any less interesting, just saying.
naw, the iron is the read
naw, the iron is the read head not the storage media
yeah but it requires one head
yeah but it requires one head per atom does it not?
It needs a scanning tunnel
It needs a scanning tunnel microscope to read it and you are worried about the number of Fe atoms? 😛