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 Researchers Use Diamond To Increase Data Storage Of Phase-Change Memory
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Message Text: Johns Hopkins engineers have discovered some previously unknown properties of a common memory material, paving the way for development of new forms of memory drives that retain data more quickly, last longer and allow far more capacity than current data storage media.



"This phase-change memory is more stable than the material used in the current flash drives. It works 100 times faster and is rewritable millions of times," said the study?s lead author, Ming Xu, a doctoral student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in Johns Hopkins? Whiting School of Engineering. "Within about five years, it could also be used to replace hard drives in computers and give them more memory."



To solve this mystery, Xu and his team used another method to trigger the change more gradually. The researchers used two diamond tips to compress the material. They employed a process called X-ray diffraction and a computer simulation to document what was happening to the material at the atomic level. The researchers found that they could "tune" the electrical resistivity of the material during the time between its change from amorphous to crystalline form.

"Instead of going from black to white, it's like finding shades or a shade of gray in between," said Xu's doctoral adviser, En Ma, a professor of materialsl science and engineering, and a co-author of the PNAS paper. "By having a wide range of resistance, you can have a lot more control. If you have multiple states, you can store a lot more data."
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