Computers & Processors:

IBM Storage Breakthrough Goes Nanotech

Evoking an image of the traditional punch card data storage method, but on a molecular level, the experimental system is a chip that uses thousands of heated nano-sharp tips to punch indentations representing individual bits into a thin plastic film. The patterns of the punches, which measure 10 nanometers each, become a digitized representation of the data, and they can pack enough data to store 25 million printed textbook pages on a surface the size of a postage stamp.

Data Storage Expands

Developed by two scientists in IBM's Zurich, Switzerland, research labs, the project -- code-named Millipede -- is an ongoing effort by the company to develop nanotechnology data storage using components that measure 100 nanometers or less.

Peter Vettiger, IBM's Millipede project leader, told NewsFactor that the research team expects a prototype to be released next year. He cited PDAs (personal digital assistants), cell phones and digital cameras as the types of technology most likely to benefit from the small, low-powered, high-density storage system. "This is the benchmark where we can fully test out the system's capabilities. We can probably initially have 10 to 20 times the storage
capacity of today's devices," Vettiger said of the prototype, which will hook up to a handheld device for testing. If successful, the research team could make it possible for consumers to quickly download and store movies in apersonal video recorder or PDA.

Testing Continues

Vettiger also noted that the research team is testing the endurance of the polymer media that is punched as it is written, erased and rewritten thousands of times, as well as the stability of the data over time and temperature. "If you assume [the prototype] works at all well, then I would say in the best case this technology could be made available in the late 2005 time frame," Vettiger noted, adding that Millipede is still in the research phase as IBM has yet to commit to a development schedule.

Competitive Pricing

Because the data storage chip can be manufactured in the same fabrication plants as silicon-based semiconductors with just a handful of modifications, Vettiger said he expects the storage system will be competitively priced. "There is not a single step in fabrication that had to be invented anew. The tools are there to do it," he said.

Quantum-Level Breakthroughs

But according to Vettiger, the data storage system's real breakthrough is the development of tools that will allow continued work toward packing even greater data density into more compact spaces. Vettiger said he believes a single atom eventually may be able to act as the bit cell. "Today, we are making bit or indentation sizes which are still 50 times bigger than the diameter of a single atom, which gives you the feeling there is a lot of room for improvement over the next 10 or 20 years," he said.