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'Millipede' Prototype Shown at CeBIT
neutron_p writes "It was a subject of much controversy for last 5 - 7 years, but it's finally got protyped. At CeBIT, IBM for the first time shows the prototype of "Millipede" - nanomechanical data storage device. Using revolutionary nanotechnology, scientists at the IBM Zurich R&D Lab, Switzerland, have made it to the millionths of a millimeter range, achieving data storage densities of more than one terabit per square inch, equivalent to storing the content of 25 DVDs on an area the size of a postage stamp. The principle of operation is comparable with the old punch cards, but now with structural dimensions in the nanometer scale and the ability to erase data and rewrite the medium."
I can't answer on behalf of IBM or the millipede project, but if you want my opinion (as an academic researcher who uses similar technology), then I'd guess:
1. Competitive to HDD, since the tips don't seek very far (100 microns max) and since data output from multiple tips can be done in parrallel (in principle, 4000 bits at once, depending on data contiguity, etc.). The time required to actually 'melt' the divots might be the limiting factor, but again that should be offset by the ability to write 4000 bits at once.
2. Room temperature is fine for piezos and cantilevers. Even cold temperatures should be fine. I imagine the material they use would stop responding properly if the device were too hot (above 70 C maybe), but if placed in a computer case away from the hottest components, it should be fine.
3. Even though each tip uses local heating, I don't think the device temperature would be very high. In read mode, the cantilevers are passive and the piezo doesn't generate much heat (I use AFMs at work, and they don't generate heat the way a magnetic HDD does).
4. As I describe in another post, each array in principle alloys thousands of tips to read/write together, at the same time. Stacking a bunch of arrays in a real device is straight-forward.
5. Failure rate might be a problem, and needs consideration. In the lab, sometimes I can use a tip for a long time without damage, but sometimes they can snap off. If the device is properly designed I would guess failure rates for each tip would be okay. Polymer degredation or aging is a very real problem. Presumably they are optimizing that as best they can. I think initial devices will probably have extensive error correction, so that if one tip dies, it can recover the data from that region and write it somewhere else.
6. The current cost for MEMS tips batch-processed like this can be from 1$ per tip to as much as 50$ per tip, depending what you want. So an array might cost thousands of dollars. Of course, the tips are use are for a small market (academic research). It is easier to use lithography to make a bunch of chips than to make a Pentium chip, though, so I imagine if it went into mass production, it wouldn't cost more than 100$ per array. So competitive with HDD.
7. My guess: initial devices to hit the market will have 10 redundant arrays with tons of error-checking. The storage will be competitive with magnetic drives and transfer rates will be too. Cost will be a bit higher, but after being in production for about 5 years, most figures of merit will be better than HDD, and cost will be down to what we're currently used to paying for storage.
But these are, of course, just my (hopefully educated) guesses.