Imagine, all the data in your hard disk, your DVD collection and all those several Gbs of data, in a single small device,may be as small as the thumb drives of present day. That is what the Millipede memory technology proposes to achieve. Developed by the IBM, this technology is one of the latest innovations in the field of memory and storage technology.
The Millipede memory technology was introduced by the IBM in early 2003. But, the whole concept came into limelight only in late 2005 when the IBM showcased a prototype of the technology in the CeBIT 2005 and proposed to achieve an average areal density of 1 Tbit/in 2 . This meant that 1 trillion bits could be stored in a square inch or almost 200 Gbs of storage in a stamp-sized chip.
Recently now, the IBM has also promised a maximum areal density of 2.7 Tbit/in 2 . The most widely used secondary storage or the hard disk technology of the present day is the magnetic storage. Also we have the flash memory or the solid state devices in the field of storage and memory technology. The current secondary storage technology of the magnetic hard disk is approaching its limits. With the hard disk capabilities doubling every year, the magnetic storage would soon find its super- paramagnetic limit of areal storage density.
That is, the limit of confining the local magnetisation would be reached soon due to the super-paramagnetic effect. Also, the flash drives are not excepted to achieve the proposed storage density in the immediate future. Due to these reasons, the Millipede memory is considered as the technology for the future.
That means, the Millipede memory is the proposed technological replacement for the current secondary technologies,once they find their limits. The Millipede memory technology uses nanoscopic tips such as the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) tips to attain very precise local confinement in a nanoscopic area. These nanoscopic tips are used to make indentations on a thin layer of polymer.These indentations would represent bits. The result is akin to that in a punch card, the long forgotten technology.
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