Scientists from Australia’s Flinders University have taken the idea of mechanical data recording, similar to ancient cuneiform or punched card writing, to a new level. Writing and reading occurs using a probe on an atomic force microscope, and encoding involves the depth of the probe in the holes made, which quadruples the recording density compared to flat binary.
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In the case of classical binary recording, one or another mark is either put on a punched card, on a hard drive, on CDs and DVDs, or not. Researchers in Australia were able to make markings in the form of indentations in a special plastic film, but they were also able to divide the depth of the probe into the formed groove, which added two more marks to the encoding – one at a depth of 0.3-1.0 nm, the other at a depth of 1 .5–2.5 nm. As a result, they managed to encode data in the ternary system of 0, 1 and 2, and this means recording on the same storage area four times more information than in the usual case of binary encoding.
As a recording medium, the scientists used an inexpensive polymer film consisting of sulfur and a chemical compound known as dicyclopentadiene. The film is selected so that it is suitable for making holes of different depths and is inexpensive to produce and undemanding to the conditions of use. Moreover, the properties of the film allow information to be erased by simply heating it to 140 °C. In their experiments, scientists performed this operation four times, and this did not lead to a deterioration in the properties of the material. Finally, recording is carried out at room temperature, which guarantees low energy consumption during this stage.
Image source: Advanced Science 2024
«This study reveals the potential of using simple renewable polysulfides in probe-based mechanical data storage, offering a potential alternative to current technologies that is lower power, higher density and more sustainable,” explain the scientists who conducted the study.