New Perovskite Could Lead Next Generation Of Data Storage

[Megalith]

The science here is going over my head, but experts have discovered a material that could allow for hard drives that combine the advantages of magnetic storage with the speed of optical writing and reading. The material happens to react quickly even with low-energy sources (e.g., simple red LEDs), which could mean high-capacity drives that require much lesser power.

"We have essentially discovered the first magnetic photoconductor," says Bálint Náfrádi. This new crystal structure combines the advantages of both ferromagnets, whose magnetic moments are aligned in a well-defined order, and photoconductors, where light illumination generates high density free conduction electrons. The combination of the two properties produced an entirely new phenomenon: the "melting" of magnetization by photo-electrons, which are electrons that are emitted from a material when light hits it. In the new perovskite material, a simple red LED—much weaker than a laser pointer—is enough to disrupt, or "melt" the material's magnetic order and generate a high density of travelling electrons, which can be freely and continuously tuned by changing the light's intensity. The timescale for shifting the magnetic in this material is also very fast, virtually needing only quadrillionths of a second.

 

[krotch]

So...new version of the magneto optical drive.

Magneto optical drive. Laser to melt the material, magnet on the other side to change the magnetic order.

This new thing. LED to melt the material, change LED intensity to change the magnetic order.

 

[Rev Lemmon]

Maybe in a hundred years this will actually make it out of the lab.

 

[lostinseganet]

Where are the fabled memristors?

 

[krotch]

Maybe in a hundred years this will actually make it out of the lab.

or never will. Who remembers liquid crystal storage? Holographic disc?

 

[sir-gold]

So...new version of the magneto optical drive.

Magneto optical drive. Laser to melt the material, magnet on the other side to change the magnetic order.

This new thing. LED to melt the material, change LED intensity to change the magnetic order.

I think that is where the similarities end.

An MO drive uses the laser for reading the disc as well (using the magneto-optical Kerr effect) which makes it more like a CD-RW (it just uses magnetic fields instead of photosensitive dye)

From what I understand, this new method is read using a traditional magnetic read head, while the light is only used to unlock the individual bits for writing, which makes it more like traditional magnetic hard drives.

If this idea was applied to modern hard drives, it solves a lot of the bit density problems. Currently, the physical distance between bits is limited by the strong magnetic field required to write a bit (too close together and you wipe the neighboring bits). If you can selectively unlock the bits using light (probably still a laser, but at a very low power), you can move the neighboring bits closer together without fear of wiping them.

This also makes the magnetic media more resistant to damage from an EMP, something the military would be interested in.

 

[krotch]

I didn't see anything there about how it'd read. I was assuming it'd read with the light, simply cause of current/old technology. If it reads with a magnetic head, it makes sense. It also makes me wonder if there's any kind of limitation on that also. Like issues trying to read the magnetic bits due to them being closer. *shrugs*