IBM scientists have made what they say is a groundbreaking nano-physics discovery in memory technology that has the potential to make memory devices be able to store 100 times more data and make this data available for computing at extremely high speeds.

The researchers have identified a key physical characteristic of Racetrack memory – something IBM Research has been working on for the past six years – which they say “flips the current memory paradigm on its head.”

In Racetrack memory, data is stored as magnetic patterns within “domains” on nanowires that are 1,000 times finer than a human hair. Recently, IBM scientists discovered a way to precisely move these domains at hundreds of miles per hour across the wires using electrical pulses.

Instead of making the computer look for the data it needs on a spinning disk or a Flash drive, Racetrack can now automatically move the magnetic domain where the needed data is stored to where it can be used by the computer, using only a tiny electric impulse.

“The new understanding, revealed today in the journal Science, allows the precise control of the placement of these domains, which the IBM team has proven can act as nano-sized data keepers that can not only store at least 100 times more memory than today's techniques, but can be accessed at much greater speeds,” an IBM statement read.

Stuart Parkin, an IBM Fellow at IBM Research, said the scientists discovered that domain walls did not reach peak acceleration as soon as the current was turned on, and it took them exactly the same time and distance to reach peak acceleration as it did to decelerate to a stop.

“This was previously undiscovered in part because it was not clear whether the domain walls actually had mass, and how the effects of acceleration and deceleration could exactly compensate one another,” Parkin said. “Now we know domain walls can be positioned precisely along the racetracks simply by varying the length of the current pulses even though the walls have mass.”