Memory device enables molecular computers

摘要

Researchers have created an ultra-dense memory device the size of a white blood cell that has enough capacity to store the US Declaration of Independence and still have space left over. The accomplishment represents an important step toward the creation of molecular computers that are much smaller and could be more powerful than today's silicon-based computers. The 160,000 memory bits are arranged like a large tic-tac-toe board: 400 silicon wires crossed by 400 titanium wires, each 16 nanometres wide, with a layer of dumbbell-shaped molecular switches sandwiched between the crossing wires.