researcher have been able-bodied to reach a remarkable success that could inspire how electronic devices store information . They have used a individual atom as a individual computer bit .
In a paper , publish inNature , the investigator have discussed how they have achieve this telling feat . They placed atomic number 67 atoms on Mg oxide and then used a scanning tunneling microscope to put on an electric current to the single atoms . By doing so , they could change the direction of magnetization of those atoms .
The Ho atoms could be made pointing up or down , which is tantamount to a " 0 " or a " 1 " snatch . Currently , normal magnetic warehousing found in reckoner or phone have millions of atoms whose properties can be exchange to represent the two states of a bit .
The team was not only able to write those states , but also to read them back , showcasing the high magnetic stability of the speck .
So far , the small magnetised storage that was developed consisted of radical of three to 12 atoms . researcher antecedently thought that such small storage gadget would be impossible to attain or at least unstable , as at that spirit level you ’re leaving the realm of classic aperient and venturing into the quantum creation . Holmium seems to defy this expected value .
" There are no quantum mechanically skillful consequence between atoms of atomic number 67 , " Centennial State - author Andreas Heinrich , director of the Center for Quantum Nanoscience within the Institute of Basic Science , said in astatement . " Now we want to sleep with why . "
Holmium atoms have also got another important characteristic : They can be packed very closely together , which could pave the wave for tiny high - tightness reposition scheme .
" We have opened up novel possibilities for quantum nanoscience by control individual atoms incisively as we desire , " Heinrich continued . " This research may goad conception in commercial-grade storage medium that will expand the opening of miniaturizing data point storage . "
Atomic storage is what some expert call the death ofMoore ’s Law , which tell that the data that can be stored on a silicon chip doubles every 18 months . Obviously , this does n’t mean that electronic devices will stop improving , it just shows that they will in the next few decades have to make the jump to quantum technologies to stay to be competitive .
