On March 8th 2017, researchers at IBM's Almaden Lab in San Jose, California, announced that they had succeeded in storing one bit of data on a single atom. This was made possible by creating single atom magnets. The new process of storing data atomically could change all of our computing devices radically. IBM says that it's new technique could make it possible to store Apple's entire 26 million song catalog on a single area.
The process involved placing a single atom of the element holmium on the surface of magnesium oxide. A small amount of electric current was used to flip the atom one way or the other. Each flip corresponded to either a 1 or a 0. The researchers then read the data by measuring the electromagnetic properties of that atom. They were also able to demonstrate that two magnetic atoms only one nano meter apart could each be read or written to independently.
IBM's breakthrough could revolutionize the development of quantum computers and PCs, and further increase the miniaturization of smart phones and other devices. IBM says that magnetic storage could also make it possible to store 1,000 times more data in the same area used today. However, they say that for now this project remains as pure research.
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