Researchers at IBM (NYSE: IBM) have claimed success in encoding a single data bit onto a surface consisting of just 12 atoms. In comparison, a typical magnetic storage device typically requires over a million atoms to store the same amount of data. The experiment was conducted using a scanning tunneling microscope 1 degree Kelvin, which is just a whisker above absolute zero.

IBM estimates that storing data reliably at a more practical room temperature will require 150 atoms per bit.

This breakthrough is obviously more theoretical than practical. Andreas Heinrich, IBM's lead investigator on this project, admitted that commercializing it will be a "huge engineering challenging." Still, he thinks that actual devices using IBM's new method of data storage could take five to 10 years to develop.

However, there is little doubt that this breakthrough could have a profound impact when it becomes commercialized. Besides answering the question of just how many atoms it takes to create a magnetic bit, the research conclusively proved that today's storage medium is nowhere near the limit of what is possible within the laws of physics.

Heinrich says: "Looking at this conservatively...instead of 1TB on a device you'd have 100TB to 150TB. Instead of being able to store all your songs on a drive, you'd be able to have all your videos on the device."

For more:
- check out this article at Computerworld
- check out this article at GigaOM

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