All data in computer system consist of binary information. Binary means there are only two possible way one and zero. These long strings of ones and zeros can store increasingly complex information.
But in a computer hard drive, the information storage is limited by the size of those individual bits of information. Now researchers have discovered a way to magnetically store information on the smallest unit possible a single atom.
Researchers have recently discovered that this new technology could lead to massive data storage capacities on an incredibly small way. The researcher from IBM, Christopher Luis said Magnetic bits lie at the heart of hard-disk drives, tape and next-generation magnetic memory stated by The Christian Science Monitor.
As per Venture Beat, a single bit of information are already stored in a very small area which is near about 100,000 atoms for every zero or one. Even a couple of decades ago, this scale might be considered as science fiction. But now the scale at which computers store information has been steadily decreasing for years.
Theoretically, as long as there is a smaller stable, physical unit upon which information can be stored. With help of this process, computers can become faster and be able to store more information while taking up less space.
The researcher described their methods in a Science Journal. Basically, they are using individual atoms of the rare Earth element holmium. They were able to flip the atoms up and down using their magnetic poles by sending electrical currents through the particles. It placed at an extremely low temperature.
Now Scientists have described the 'write' and 'read' process in computer hard drive. They said, 'write' process is a current that flips the magnetic north and south poles of the atom and thus changes it between zero and one. The 'read' process is the magnetic current passing through the atom to determine whether its value is zero or one.
This work is not product development, but rather it is basic research told by Dr. Lutz. According to them, one-day atom-sized storage could theoretically store the equivalent of iTunes' entire library of 35 million songs on a credit card size device.
