"Racetrack Memory" for Digital Data Storage.

• Position: COMPUTER SCIENCE

Steps have been taken by a team of scientists to create a new form of digital data storage, a "racetrack memory," which opens the possibility to bolster computer power and lead to the creation of smaller, faster, and more energy efficient computer memory technologies.

"Racetrack memory, which reconfigures magnetic fields in innovative ways, could supplant current methods of mass data storage, such as flash memory and disk drives, due to its improved density of information storage, faster operation, and lower energy use," says Yassine Quessab, a postdoctoral fellow at New York University's Center for Quantum Phenomena and lead author of the work.

Adds Andrew Kent, professor of physics: "While additional development is necessary in order to deploy it in consumer electronics, this pioneering type of memory may soon become the next wave of mass data storage."

Today's devices--from smartphones to laptops to cloud-based storage--rely on a remarkable and growing density of digital data storage. Because the need will only increase in the future, researchers have been seeking ways to improve storage technologies--enhancing their capacities and speed...