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a new pulsed technique for scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs). Pulsed-STMs yield nanosecond time-resolution, a requirement for designing the atomic-scale memory chips, solar panels and quantum computers of the future... a new pulsed-STM technique that puts its ability to measure time on par with the nanoscale accuracy as its distance measurements... Today's DRAM cells must have their bits refreshed every 50 milliseconds or so, but by using its new pulsed-STM technique, IBM has now observed that single iron atoms will need to be refreshed about every 250 nanoseconds -- about 200,000 times faster.

Thanks ShadowAce. The gov't had better make sure we share this with all the Moslem despotates around the world.

BTW, it is difficult (at best) to believe that this technique will ever work at all, much less a reasonably priced consumer product. Higher density, inefficiencies of lasers, both lead to heat problems, even assuming practical miniaturization of the STM.

It’s hard to believe I’ve been out of this business for 16 years now...for chips, that’s about eight (8) generations...Whew!

They do some amazing stuff in those research labs.