Posted on 07/04/2002 1:37:27 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Nanoscale Sensor Could Increase Data Storage Capacity
Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo have developed an extremely sensitive nanoscale device that could shrink ultra-high-density storage devices to incredibly small sizes.
The magnetic sensor, made of nickel and only a few atoms in diameter, could increase data storage capacity by a factor of a thousand or more and could ultimately lead to supercomputing devices as small as a wristwatch.
The effect created with the new nickel device is called ballistic magneto-resistance (BMR). It addresses a major hurdle facing advances in magnetic storage — that as stored bits of data get smaller, their magnetic field gets weaker, which makes the bits harder to read. Reliable reading of the data depends on producing a large enough magnetically-induced change in the electrical resistance of the sensor. The BMR experiment exhibited a record change in sensor resistance of more than 3,000 percent.
The ultimate capacity of the device is predicted to be about 1 terabit per square inch, which is 20 times higher than the most dense magnetic storage currently available. IBM's thermomechanical storage project, code-named Millipede, demonstrated a data storage density of 1 trillion bits per square inch earlier in June.
The current technology used in the sensors that read bits from a storage disk is based on an effect called giant magnetoresistance (GMR), which refers to the change in the sensor resistance when placed in a magnetic field. GMR sensors have enabled commercial hard drives that can store the amount of data contained in a full-length DVD movie in a space the size of a credit card. Sensors based on BMR, however, could enable the storage of 50 or more DVDs on a hard drive the size of a credit card.
BMR may also have applications beyond the data storage industry, such as improving magnetic measurements and the study of magnetic effects in individual atoms, molecules and nanoscale clusters. It could also greatly enhance resolution and sensitivity of scanning probe imaging techniques that are widely used to characterize magnetic materials.
The research, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, was carried out by Harsh Deep Chopra and Susan Hua and will be published in the July 1 issue of Physical Review B.
July 2, 2002
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(reality): been to compusa lately? hard drives. yeah, they're bigger, cheaper. but exactly the same crap i was buying in 1988? 1986?
I remeber the Original 35 Megabyte Winchester Removable drive. It weighted more that 25 lbs!
Be well...
(and Happy Fourth!!!)
Huh? That's got to be one of the most easily refuted statements I've ever seen on a tech related matter. Have you been sleeping under a tree, like Rip van Winkle, since 1988?
In 1993, I bought my first PC for nearly $2,000. It was a 486SX running at 20Mhz with 4MB of RAM, a 129MB hard drive and a 2400bps modem. I have it in my basement as a curiosity. It works just like the day I got it but I can't get any serious work done with it. It does have some sentimental value however because that 129MB hard drive is loaded with posts downloaded from the Prodigy News BB days, which was where many Freepers-to-be hung out before there was a Free Republic (including Jim Robinson)>
Today, I am working on a system that I built just a few months ago for $800 (not including monitor). As I am typing this, I am ripping CDs to one of my two 80gig hard drives, listening to music from my personal music library, surfing the web and checking my e-mail all at the same time with no loss in performance. I have enough MP3s to run a commercial radio station and enough books, articles and games stored to occupy my time for years to come. No way could you do this in 1986.
I expect that 10 years from now, I will have the entire Library of Congress on one of my hard drives. Now that would be something. Maybe I'll just quit my job, sell my house, get a cabin in Montana and spend the rest of my life perusing it all.
that's exactly the point i was trying to make.
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