NEW YORK – Scientists have discovered a way to use single missing atoms in crystals as memory cells, packing terabytes of data into a millimeter-sized cube.
By harnessing rare earth elements and light-based activation, they are creating a storage system unlike anything seen in classical computing.
Revolutionizing Storage: From Punch Cards to Atoms
From the punch card-driven looms of the 1800s to today’s smartphones, data storage has always relied on a simple principle: an object that can switch between “on” and “off” states can be used to store information.
In modern computers, binary code — ones and zeroes — takes different physical forms. In a laptop, transistors represent these states by operating at either high or low voltage. On a compact disc, a “one” appears where a tiny indented pit transitions to a flat surface, while a “zero” is a region with no change.
Traditionally, the physical size of these binary components has limited how much data a device can store. Now, researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have developed a method to encode ones and zeroes using crystal defects — imperfections at the atomic level. This breakthrough could significantly enhance the storage capacity of classical computer memory.
Their findings were published on February 14 in Nanophotonics.
A Single Missing Atom Holds Memory
“Each memory cell is a single missing atom – a single defect,” said UChicago PME Asst. Prof. Tian Zhong. “Now you can pack terabytes of bits within a small cube of material that’s only a millimeter in size.”
The innovation is a true example of UChicago PME’s interdisciplinary research, using quantum techniques to revolutionize classical, non-quantum computers and turning research on radiation dosimeters – most commonly known as the devices that store how much radiation hospital workers absorb from X-ray machines – into groundbreaking microelectronic memory storage.
“We found a way to integrate solid-state physics applied to radiation dosimetry with a research group that works strongly in quantum, although our work is not exactly quantum,” said first author Leonardo França, a postdoctoral researcher in Zhong’s lab. “There is a demand for people who are doing research on quantum systems, but at the same time, there is a demand for improving the storage capacity of classical non-volatile memories. And it’s on this interface between quantum and optical data storage where our work is grounded.”
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