Tiny Structures Can Help Store Data.

• Author: Tiron, Roxana
• Position: Brief Article

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...