Metal oxide crystals of rare metals can store thousands of times more data than traditional storage methods due to a new storage technique. This has been made possible by manipulating the atoms within these crystals.
Researchers at the University of Chicago recently published the results of a study of new storage methods. In doing so, the scientists investigated whether they could achieve data storage at the level of atoms.
In (traditional) binary storage, data is stored by circuits that assume two states, on or off. Information is captured by activating or deactivating small elements.
Binary atomic storage in crystals
In the study, the scientists looked to see if they could also apply this principle at the level of atoms. This was possible by manipulating the individual atoms in a (metal) crystal. In this process, a missing atom serves as a memory element. Using ultraviolet light, these atomic “holes” are switched into an active (on) or inactive (off) state, which stores data.
Rare earth crystals are often used for various applications, including lasers, optical electronics, displays, light reflection, optical storage and quantum data applications.
Opportunities high-density optical storage
Metal oxide crystals of rare earths in particular showed stunning results in this regard, the scientists describe in their paper for the scientific journal Nanophotonics.
These particular crystals respond uniquely to light. This allowed the researchers to control which “atomic holes” in the particular crystal were charged and which were not. As a result, crystals as small as 1 millimeter were able to create more than 1 billion ‘memory spots’.
If this technique is developed further, high-density optical storage devices are possible that can store thousands of times more data than current technologies.
Casual discovery
The researchers unexpectedly discovered this functionality in (heavy metal) crystals. They were originally working on radiation meters for hospital staff. During the experiments, one of the researchers noticed that the crystals used for measuring radiation doses were also very suitable for data storage. The research team then investigated this new technology for data storage.
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