Storage breakthrough could bust density record

By Rik Myslewski, 20th February 2009

Researchers have developed a breakthrough storage technology capable of squeezing the contents of 250 DVDs onto a disk the size of a quarter. The technique involves using the self-assembly properties of chemically dissimilar polymer chains to array themselves into ludicrously dense but perfectly regular formations. Working with co-lead investigator Thomas Russell of UMass Amherst, Ting Xu of the University of California at Berkeley was able to create defect-free arrays with cell sizes as small as three nanometers. Three-nanometer domains could theoretically create storage densities of 10 terabytes per square inch. Compare that density to the record 803 gigabytes per square inch achieved in rarified testing of perpendicular magnetic recording technology at TDK's labs, and this new technique has the potential for increasing storage densities by 12.5 times over that record.

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