News Memory stores three bits in one

Am I offering 2 for 1? 3 for 2? Nah - 3 for 1! This from TRNMag.com:

The usual way to cram more storage capacity into memory chips is to shrink the bits that hold the 1s and 0s of computer information. An alternative is to put multiple bits in the same spot, an approach researchers are looking to now that making ever smaller electronic devices has become increasingly difficult.

Researchers from the University of Southern California and NASA have built a prototype molecular memory device that stores three bits in the same spot. "We can store three bits of information in one memory cell," said Chongwu Zhou, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Southern California. "This multiplies the storage density without increasing the device footprint."

A memory chip based on the researchers' prototype would be able to hold 40 gigabits, which is a little more than a DVD's-worth of data, per square centimeter, and the method has the potential to hold 10 times that. Today's flash memory chips hold of about 1 gigabit per square centimeter



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