Linked by Flatland_Spider on Fri 21st Nov 2008 13:28 UTC
Hardware, Embedded Systems What's after electrical charges and electricity in computer storage? Lasers and excitons. Theorists from the John Hopkins University have drafted a theory that uses low-power lasers and crystalline insulators to store data. In the theory, lasers would excite electrons in a crystalline-like lattice in order to record data; the atoms would vibrate at a certain frequency to indicate the type of bit. A side effect of using lasers and insulators is reduced heat output. The heat is reduced because the atoms do not exchanging electrons as current computer components do. The EE Times has a more detailed write up as well as WebIndia, TopNews.in, Eureka Alert, and Small Times.
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tyrione
Member since:
2005-11-21

I'm not a physicist, but when looking over this article, some of the physics seemed off to me... that plus seeing one or two of the classic signs of charlatanism make me wonder.

Sorry for the pessimism.


Correct. You're not a physicist. Your skepticism could have been and most certainly has been the same skepticism since we discovered electronconductivity across the entire Periodic Table, let alone across the varying types of crystalline lattice structures that Material Science Engineering and Physical Chemistry continue to develop/understand that sits dormant in plain sight.

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