Centipedes to replace flash drives

Nanotechnology is not only a new national idea, but also a very interesting trend in technology. This was once again reminded by the young company Nanochip from Fremont, California. For nearly 12 years, she has been developing a new type of computer memory, in which the full potential of MEMS is used . Invented by its engineers chips contain the thinnest film of the original material and a head with an array of thousands of needles. When a voltage is applied to a needle, it acts on the surface of the film, changing the electrical state of its section beneath itself, and thereby writes a bit of information on it. You can count a bit by applying a weaker voltage to the needle. Each needle works independently and has dimensions of about 15 nm, and in the future - 1-2 nm.

The needle head moves over the surface of the film by electrostatic forces. The existing prototypes of this type of memory chips have a recording density several times larger than the most modern NAND-memory chips (used in usual flash drives), at the same time possessing greater durability and lower power consumption.

Today, the company has only film material and single-needle read / write technology. The $ 14 million investment received by her at the end of January will be directed to the development of algorithms for the effective joint operation of the array of needles and the technique of packing the head and the electronics controlling it in the chip.

A similar technology is developing IBM. Her brainchild called Millipede (“centipede”) is generally very similar to the idea of ​​Nanochip, but uses a different writing principle: instead of being subjected to an electric field, the bits are thermoformed onto a polymer surface. You can erase them by “smearing” the grooves done, as if they were made in plasticine.
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IBM showed an engineering sample of a memory chip on its technology at the CeBit'2005 exhibition, but there is no talk about serial production.