Nanotech breakthrough could put entire YouTube contents on an iPod-size device

Storage in the Enterprise This newsletter is sponsored by HP Get an out-of-the-box infrastructure-the HP BladeSystem c-Class Network World's Storage in the Enterprise Newsletter, 09/06/07 Nanotech breakthrough could put entire YouTube contents on an iPod-size device By Deni Connor IBM researchers last week unveiled two nanotechnology projects that could lead to more scalable and dense disk drives and chips. Information about these projects, which focus on devices built from atoms or molecules and are far from becoming products, will be published in the journal Science. The first project describes progress in probing a property called magnetic anisotropy in individual atoms. (According to the Free Dictionary anisotropy is the property of being anisotropic or having a different value when measured in different directions.) Anisotropy is an important property for data storage because it determines whether or not a magnet can maintain a specific orientation. Executive Guide: Stay ahead of the data growth curve Get real-world advice on how to best deal with the explosion of data across nearly every enterprise today. This informative executive guide offers IT professionals detailed information on new technologies such as ILM and FANs, specific pitfalls to avoid when deploying ILM, as well as solid case studies. Click here to learn more. Researchers used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to manipulate individual atoms and arranged them on a specially prepared copper surface. They then determined the orientation and strength of the magnetic anisotropy of the individual iron atoms. This in turn allows the magnet to represent either a 1 or 0 -- the basis for storing data in computers. No researchers ever before have been able to measure the magnetic anisotropy of an atom. Further research within IBM may make it possible to build structures consisting of small clusters of atoms that could store magnetic information. This nanotechnology breakthrough could result in the entire contents of YouTube being stored on a device the size of an iPod. Reporting on the second project, IBM unveiled a switch consisting of a single molecule that can operate without disrupting the molecule's outer frame. This research could result in components that are smaller, faster and more energy efficient than today's computer chips and memory devices. Researchers also demonstrated that atoms inside one molecule can be used to switch atoms in an adjacent molecule on and off, representing a rudimentary logic element. This capability has been demonstrated before within a single molecule, but the molecules would change shape when switching, and thus be unsuitable for building logic gates for computer chips or memory elements. More information on these nanotechnology advances is available here.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: Deni Connor is senior editor for Network World magazine covering storage, archiving and compliance, IT in healthcare, Novell and data center-related issues. E-mail Deni.   This newsletter is sponsored by HP Get an out-of-the-box infrastructure-the HP BladeSystem c-Class ARCHIVE Archive of the Storage in the Enterprise Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007