Wires are back, but not as we know them

Now that we’ve gotten used to Flash-based memory in everything from USB memory pens to iPods and beyond, the next frontier in memory storage is slowly approaching, and it’s literally in the wire. The future is nanowires – self-assembling strings of matter, so small that their width is measured atom by atom, yet remarkably flexible and durable.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have been investigating the data storage potential of nanowires a thousand times thinner than a human hair, ‘grown’ in labs from a special material that can switch between phases, the essence of computer function. The experimental devices made so far use less power, generate less heat, and are capable of saving data up to a thousand times faster than USB memory devices – and storing that data reliably for up to 100,000 years.

Like USB memory devices, nanowires are solid-state hardware, but their tiny size and molecular-level complexity could allow the storage of unbelievable amounts of data.

Right now, one of the biggest barriers to putting nanowire products on the market is that ‘growing’ process: Nanowires come in batches of various lengths and have to be sorted, a process far too costly and slow for global production lines. Oddly enough, because ‘bigger’ nanowires are easier to sort, the technology might appear in mobile devices before being incorporated into regular computing circuitry – making iPods, cellphones, and laptops lighter, tougher, faster and with much more capacity.

Nanowires should run much cooler than other storage media too, making them ideal for next-gen flexible displays. Look for nanowire technology on the market in eight years – or less.

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