IBM researchers make 12-atom magnetic memory bit

 

• Researchers have successfully stored a single data bit in only 12 atoms, currently it takes about a million atoms to store a bit on a modern hard-disk
• They believe this is the world's smallest magnetic memory bit. 
• According to the researchers, the technique opens up the possibility of producing much denser forms of magnetic computer memory than today's hard disk drives and solid state memory chips. 
• Below 12 atoms the researchers found that the bits randomly lost information, owing to quantum effects.
• Central to the research has been the use of materials with different magnetic properties.
• In conventional magnetic data storage the information is stored in ferromagnetic material, that adds up to a big magnetic field that can interfere with neighbours. That's a big problem for further miniaturisation
• Researchers believe that by increasing the number of atoms to between 150 to 200 the bits can be made stable at room temperature. That opens up the possibility of more practical applications