Big Blue scientists claim to have moved
closer to getting huge amounts of data onto tiny devices.
The scientists say they have worked out how to steer single atoms in a way that could create building blocks for ultra-tiny storage devices.
Cyrus Hirjibehedin, a scientist at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California told Associated Press that understanding and manipulating the behavior of atoms is critical to harnessing the power of nanotechnology.
Atoms behave like tiny magnets and which if they are kept stable over time can be used to store data.
Hirjibehedin and colleague Andreas Heinrich have managed to take an iron atom on a copper surface and to move its magnetic orientation around. Now they are looking for an atom that remains stable over a long time.