- Researchers at Uchicago PME develop a new nuclear scale data storage method
- Their approach uses crystal feks to store data like them and zeros
- Research combines quantum science, optical storage and radiation dosimetry
All digital systems use bits, represented as them and zeros, to store, calculate and manage data. Storage device size has long been limited by the physical scale of the binary data units, but researchers at the University of Chicagos Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (Uchicago PME) have come up with an exciting solution.
Their new method of data storage manipulates nuclear scale crystal defects – microscopic holes where atoms are missing – so they can have an electric charge so that they can be termed “them” and “zeros”, just as in binary data storage.
“It is impossible to find crystals – in nature or artificial crystals – that have no shortcomings,” explained Leonardo França, the first author of the study. “So what we’re doing is that we take advantage of these missing.”
Terabytes of bits in a 1 mm cube
A paper describing the breakthrough has been published in the journal NanophotonicsAs for developing the memory storage system, researchers used crystals of yttrium oxide and added ions of praseodymium, a rare earth element.
“When the crystal absorbs sufficient energy, it releases electrons and holes. And these charges are caught by the shortcomings, ”França said. “We can read this information. You can release the electrons and we can read the information on optical means. “
This progress draws on interdisciplinary research and combines principles from quantum science and optical storage. The work comes from previous studies of radiation dosimeters – devices used to monitor exposure levels for radiation in environments such as hospitals and particle accelerators.
“We found a way to integrate solid substance physics applied to radiation dosimetry with a research group that works strong in quantum, even though our work is not exactly quantumed,” França said.
“There is demand for people who are investigating quantum systems, but at the same time there is a requirement to improve the storage capacity for classic non-volatile memories. And it is on this interface between quantum and optical data storage where our work is grounded. “
“Each memory cell is a single missing atom – a single defect,” explained lecturer Tian Zhong of Uchicago PME. “Now you can pack terabytes of bits in a small cube of material that is only one millimeter in size.”
