Storing Data 1000X Faster Than Fastest Hard Drives?



Storing Data 1000X Faster Than Fastest Hard Drives?
Dutch researchers are using the spin property of electrons to replace the conventional magnetic domains used in traditional disk drives.
Technology Briefing

Transcript


Imagine being able to store data 1000 times faster than today's fastest hard drives. The technology to enable this leap was recently described by a team of Dutch researchers in the journal Nature Communications.

A hard drive stores bits in the form of tiny magnetic domains. The directions of the magnetic north and south poles of these domains determine whether they represent 0s or 1s. Data is stored by changing the direction of the magnetization of the associated bits. At present this is done using a write-head to create a local magnetic field, which makes a bit change direction.

The stronger the local magnetic field, the faster the domain switches. But this is subject to a limit that has now almost been reached. The number of bits has been growing rapidly for many years, but the write-speed has hardly increased. So, there's a need for a new data storage technology.

Recognizing the opportunity, the Dutch researchers are using the spin property of electrons to replace the conventional magnetic domains. Using ultra-fast laser pulses, they generate a flow of electrons that have the same spin in a material.

The resulting "spin current" changes the magnetic properties of the material. The change in the magnetization is of the order of 100 femtoseconds, which is 1,000 times faster than what is possible with today's technology.

In addition, this technology represents an important step towards future optical computer chips. It allows optical data to be stored in the form of magnetic bits. And this approach offers unprecedented opportunities to use light as an information carrier.

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