Tiny Structures Can Help Store Data.

Miniaturized structures made of silver particles could serve as data-storage devices, say researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. They report they've demonstrated binary optical storage by writing and reading simple images recorded on thin films made up of silver oxide nanoparticles.

"These nanomaterials have a remarkable new property: when you shine blue light with a wavelength of less than 520 nanometers onto them, you switch on their ability to fluoresce," said Robert M. Dickson, a Georgia Tech assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry. The fluorescent emissions from the clusters could potentially be used in biological labels and electroluminescent displays.

Dickson's research group has used this new technique to store images of simple geometric shapes and the letter "L." Green light can undestructively read images stored on the silver oxide film for at least two days.

While Georgia Tech researchers don't yet understand why the particles fluoresce, Dickson says the phenomenon's cause relates to the quantum mechanical properties of atomic silver. Researchers are also trying to find out if the optically written information can also be erased and the film rewritten.