Scientists in Canada are pointing to the potential of hydrogen lithography to create the most concentrated storage densities yet known.
Researchers at the University of Alberta say their technique results in storage density of 1.2 petabits per square inch that maintain stability at room temperature, according to a report by New Atlas.
Previous high density storage solutions have required cryogenic or vacuum-like environments to maintain the integrity of the data.
The technique relies on the absence or presence of hydrogen atoms to store zeroes and ones on a silicon substrate.
“At the atomic scale, there has always been a trade-off between the ease of fabrication of structures and their thermal stability,” the researchers wrote in the journal Nature. “Complex structures that are created effortlessly often disorder above cryogenic conditions. Conversely, systems with high thermal stability do not generally permit the same degree of complex manipulations.”
The scientists created two rewriteable atomic memories (1.1 petabits per in2), storing the alphabet letter-by-letter in 8 bits and a piece of music in 192 bits (image courtesy of University of Alberta).
The team is confident of the eventual commercial applications of hydrogen lithography for data storage. “Practical silicon-based atomic-scale devices are poised to make rapid advances towards their full potential,” the study’s authors wrote.
FLASH FORWARD
The new research comes as movers and shakers in memory technology gather in Santa Clara, California for the Flash Memory Summit to discuss the latest commercial advances in flash memory.
In a report released in the run-up to the summit, data storage consultants Coughlin Associates said flash memory would remain a dominant force in data storage even as new technologies such as Resistive RAM (ReRam) emerge.
“Moving to a non-volatile main memory and cache memory reduces power usage directly as well as enable new power saving modes, provide faster recovery from power off and enable stable computer architectures that retain their state even when power is turned off,” Tom Coughlin, author of the report, said, according to eWeek.
Performance drives are feeling the squeeze of falling SSD prices, says Stephen Buckler
Also in the lead-up to the Santa Clara event, technology giant Toshiba announced it is prototyping a 4-bit-per-cell (QLC) technology 96-layer flash memory, the first of its kind. Mass production is anticipated to commence in 2019.
Meanwhile, market pricing for solid state technologies continues to fall. “The combination of normalizing demand from hyperscalers, increased volumes and lower SSD prices is reshaping the storage market,” wrote Stephen Buckler of Horizon Technology in his most recent assessment of the data storage market.
While atomic-scale hydrogen lithography might hold the key to future storage densities the likes of which we can scarcely imagine, the enterprise market steadily warms up to the wider-scale adoption of SSD technologies.
