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BBC News - 13 January 2012

Researchers have successfully stored a single data bit in only 12 atoms. Currently it takes about a million atoms to store a bit on a modern hard-disk, the researchers from IBM say. They believe this is the world's smallest magnetic memory bit. According to the researchers, the technique opens up the possibility of producing much denser forms of magnetic computer memory than today's hard disk drives and solid state memory chips. 'Current magnetic memory architectures are fundamentally limited in how small they can go,' Dr Will Branford [Physics], of 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ, told the BBC. 'This work shows that in principle data can be stored much more densely using antiferromagnetic bits.' But the move from the lab to the production may be some time away.