Nanotech Memory Could Hold Data For 1 Billion Years

Hugh Pickens writes "Digital storage devices have become ubiquitous in our lives but the move to digital storage has raised concerns about the lifetime of the storage media. Now Alex Zettl and his group at the University of California, Berkeley report that they have developed an experimental memory device consisting of a crystalline iron nanoparticle enclosed in a multiwalled carbon nanotube that could have a storage capacity as high as 1 terabyte per square inch and temperature-stability in excess of one billion years. The nanoparticle can be moved through the nanotube by applying a low voltage, writing the device to a binary state represented by the position of the nanoparticle. The state of the device can then be subsequently read by a simple resistance measurement while reversing the nanoparticle's motion allows a memory 'bit' to be rewritten. This creates a programmable memory system that, like a silicon chip, can record digital information and play it back using conventional computer hardware storing data at a high density with a very long lifetime. Details of the process are available at the American Chemical Society for $30."

Comments

A billion years?

[GrumblyStuff]

That's great. Will the readers and systems able to display such information be around for even a hundred? Will they even accept the same power?

Re:A billion years?

[harryandthehenderson]

The papyrus medium developed by the Egyptians are still readable today

Only if they were stored under conditions conducive to them not rotting away which was the fate of most papyrus.

compared to DVD-RWs that can hold a few GBs of data, but only has a shelf life of a few years.

Stop buying cheap DVD-RWs and you don't have that problem.

Sure it can

[fataugie]

Wow, what a claim. And by the time someone figures out it's bullshit, the guy who made it will be dust long ago.

BRILLIANT!

Re:Main problem

[techiemikey]

Length of time is a relevant restriction. While information can be lost due to becoming obsolete, corruption over time occurs. CD's and DVD's are sometimes very fickle on how long they last, and many people are using them for backups. I believe that is the main concern, thus leading to this new technology.

In 1 billion years...

[Eddy Luten]

nobody will give a damn about our data anyway.

Re:Nano this, carbon nano that...

[gt6062b]

This just in, people use buzzwords to sound smart, get funding. I mean seriously, how else are we going to syngerize our companies to their maximum efficiency? It isn't all about the low hanging fruit, you know.

Re:Main problem

[MyLongNickName]

Unsolicited advice: If you aren't going to do the work, don't second guess the tech doing the work. Likely you are right. However, say something does go wrong with the drive... now you are the one who takes the blame. Best to go "uh huh... yea... sounds good" and leave it like that.