Scientists discover new mechanism for information storage in one atom

Scientists at Radboud University discovered a new mechanism for magnetic storage of information in the smallest unit of matter: a single atom. While the proof of principle was demonstrated at very low temperatures, this mechanism shows promise for room temperature operation. In this way, it will be possible to store a thousands of times more information than in current hard drives. Their findings are published today in Nature Communications.

As our current computing architecture is not getting much faster and using a lot of power, combined with the exploding demands to store information, researchers are interested in new strategies to store more information in an energy efficient way. One potential pathway is to store information at the ultimate scaling limit: a single atom. "Computers have reached fundamental limitations as to how much better they can get, creating a huge demandin materials research for alternatives. Modern computers use a lot of electricity, currently demanding more than 5 percent of the world's electricity. Fundamental science says we can gain a lot more in energy efficiency. We are focusing on a very basic component of modern computers: a bit of memory. We use atoms, because they are the smallest unit of matter and also enable us to further understand the fundamental science behind their behavior. Our current question: how can we store information within a single atom and how stable can we make that piece of information?", first author Brian Kiraly explains.