Revolution In Data Storage Systems Just Round The Corner

The amount of e-data being generated day by day is increasing at an enormous rate. So, to store this increasing amount of data, we got to provide more and more storage spaces continuously. A solution to this is, increase the storage density of devices. The HDD, pen-drive and other memory storage devices that we use today uses the magnetic storage to store the data. Thus the data is stored as a particular pattern of magnetic domains. So there’s some upper limit to the storage density because of the super paramagnetic limits. So we have got a new solution. It’s called as a Millipede storage system.  The data storage densities claimed by this system is of the order of 500-1000 Gbits /sq.in contrary to 75-150 Gbits/sq.in, which is provided by magnetic storage.

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Millipede uses a storage medium surface to store the information in the form of binary digits. Presence of a pit denotes a 1 while plain medium denotes a 0. Then a probe tip attached to a cantilever scans the medium surface to complete a read operation. Arrays of such probes are used to enhance the data transfer rates.

A complete system can have following constituents:

    [*]Cantilever: made out of silicon with one end fixed and the other end made free to move in vertical axis on application of mechanical force.
    [*]Atomic Force Microscope (AFM): This instrument has a scanning tip at the end which sends signals with their magnitude proportional to magnitude of atomic forces (and thereby distance) between the particles at the tip and on the surface.
    [*]And a few more as Scanning Tunneling microscope (STM), thermo mechanical sensor etc.

In the writing operation, the medium is heated to about 400 C and which softens the medium. At the same time, an electric pulse is sent through the cantilever which bends the cantilever which forms a pit on the surface denoting a 1. This process is called as thermo-mechanical writing. Once written, the medium is rapidly cooled to obtain stable patterns. This method enables us to write 6G bits of data in on an area on only 3sq.mm. Higher densities can be achieved with some compromise with read/write qualities.

In the writing operation, first the tip is heated to 350 C and then an electrical pulse is sent through it. As the tip bends and moves in a pit, the tip momentarily cools down and thus its resistance changes. The thermo-mechanical sensor senses this change and we thus read a 1. The erasing operation is done by simply heating the medium and allowing the patters to settle down. The heating can even be done bitwise using a probe as a local heater.

Advantages of such systems are:

    [*]Very high storage density
    [*]High data rated can be achieved by paralleling large number of probes
    [*]Power consumption is very low
    [*]Reliable operation with small overhead

The challenges are:

    [*]Endurance of the medium
    [*]Tip level uniformity, when arrays are employed
    [*]Immunity to vibrations

Thus the current data storage systems may be just about to become out-dated till the challenges are met with proper solutions. But one disadvantage is that you’ll have to be much more careful about your tiny pen-drives then. ;-)

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