Memory Circuits the Size of a White Blood Cell

Chemists from UCLA and the California Institute of Technology have managed to create an ultra-dense memory device capable of storing 100 Gb (gigabits) per square centimetre, an accomplishment which could lead to much smaller and more powerful computers than we have today. The memory uses a series of perpendicular nanowires crossing over each other, with 400 silicon wires crossed by 400 titanium wires, both 16nm wide. At each crossing are approximately 300 bistable rotaxane molecules which can act as switches and therefore be used to store data in a very small space.