Data storage using individual molecules

The research group of Prof, T.A. Jung at the University of Basel has reported on a new method that allows the physical state of just a few atoms or molecules within a network to be controlled. It is based on the spontaneous self-organization of molecules into extensive networks with pores about one nanometer in size. In the journal small, the physicists reported on their investigations, which could be of particular importance for the development of new storage devices.

Graphic representation of a potential data storage device on the atomic scale: a data storage element – made of only six Xenon atoms – is liquefied using a voltage pulse. (Illustration: University of Basel, Department of Physics)
Press Release of the University of Basel
Data storage using individual molecules
Original Publication
Phase Transitions in Confinements: Controlling Solid to Fluid Transitions of Xenon Atoms in an On‐Surface Network
Aisha Ahsan, S. Fatemeh Mousavi, Thomas Nijs, Sylwia Nowakowska, Olha Popova, Aneliia Wäckerlin, Jonas Björk, Lutz H. Gade , Thomas A. Jung
Small 2019, 15, 1803169 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201803169