Data Storage in a Spin
If you think your hard drives are a bit sluggish then you may be interested in a development by French physicists called Spin Transport Electronics or ‘Spintronics’, If speed is what you need then this technology promises transfer rates up to 100,000 times faster than current magnetic storage devices. Spintronics harnesses the natural ‘spin’ of electrons when they encounter magnetic fields. As they rotate they generate a secondary electrical signal that can be used to record data. However, the real breakthrough is the use of lasers to read and write data to the spinning electrons, by altering the spin speed and direction. Needless to say it’ll be a while before this turns into a commercially viable technology, but we’ll keep you posted.
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