University of Glasgow - Nanotechnology paves way for super iPods and more
Published Apr 16 2008 [Printer friendly version] [Email article to a friend] [More Design & Manufacture articles]
A breakthrough by scientists from the University of Glasgow could see the
storage capacity of an iPod increase 150,000 times. Nanotechnology
researchers have developed a molecule-sized SWITCH which means that data
storage can be dramatically increased without the need to increase the size
of devices.
Professor Lee Cronin and Dr Malcolm Kadodwala’s work would see 500,000
gigabytes squeezed onto one square inch. The current limit for the space is
around 3.3 gigabytes, says the team. The researchers believe that their
development could see the number of transistors per chip rising from today’s
limit of 200million to well over one billion.
Professor Lee Cronin said: “What we have done is find a way to potentially
increase the data storage capabilities in a radical way. We have been able
to assemble a functional nanocluster that incorporates two electron donating
groups, and position them precisely 0.32nm apart so that they can form a
totally new type of molecular switching device.
“This is unprecedented and provides a route to produce new a molecule-based
switch that can be easily manipulated using an electric field. By taking
these nano-scale clusters, just a nanometer in size, and placing them onto a
gold or carbon, we can control the switching ability. Not only is this a new
type of switchable molecule, but by grafting the molecule on to metal (gold)
or carbon means that we can potentially bridge the gap between traditional
semiconductor devices and components for nanoscale plastic electronics.
“The key advantage of the molecule sized switch is information / transistor
density in traditional semi-conductors. Molecule sized switches would lead
to increasing data storage to say 4 Petabits per square inch.
“This breakthrough shows conceptually that this is possible (showing the
bulk effect) but we are yet to solve the fabrication and addressing
problems.
“The fact these switches work on carbon means that they could be embedded in
plastic chips so silicon is not needed and the system becomes much more
flexible both physically and technologically.
“Since these switches are little balls of metal oxide they are made of
similar stuff to normal semi-conductors but are much easier to manipulate as
discrete molecular units."
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