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As computing components reach a certain minutiae, quantum effects could have negative consequences, but researchers have found a way to use these quantum effects to benefit data storage using spintronics. The results show that a single atom could be used to store the ones and zeros that comprise binary code. A form of spintronics, known as ballistic anisotropic magnetoresistance, occurs when a magnetized wire with a width of a few atoms is placed in another magnetic field. The wire's atoms become magnetized in the direction of the field, and this direction could be used to encode a bit of data. Since electrons would be able to travel down the wire without bumping into any atoms, their spin could align itself with those of the data-storing atoms, creating a readable signal. Researchers at the University of Nebraska and the University of Strasbourg placed a narrow strip of cobalt wire on a silicon chip and made the wire into an hourglass shape at one point on its length. The "waist" of the hourglass was only one atom wide and acted as the narrow wire. Evidence showed that the signals from atoms could be read as they passed through the waist. These results are far from being ready for store shelves, but if this technology could be utilized, it could allow a superior form of compact memory.
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