EP0174860A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Information recording and readout
Assignee: Xerox Corp
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Filing: 1985-09-12
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2005-09-12
Abstract
Abstract @ A recording and readout information system having atomic scale densities comprises a recording medium having a carrier (16) and means (20, 30) to form a pattern of atomic paticles (18A) on the surface of the carrier. The atomic particles have an affinity for the carrier and can adhere to the surface to form a relatively adhesive and stable bond. The pattern of atomic particles produced on the carrier are representative of recorded information, e.g. binary represented information, of ultra high density based upon the size and spacing of such particles, which is in the range, for example, of 5A (.5 nm) to 10A (1 nm). A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a recording medium with an adsorbent carrier, and means to form a pattern of adsorbate atomic particles on the surface of the adsorbent carrier, the adsorbate atomic particles having an adsorptive affinity for the adsorbent carrier due - at least in part - to electrical attraction characteristics between the adsorbate atomic partiles and the adsorbent carrier. Readout means (30), utilizing the tunnel current effect, is employed to determine the presence or absence of the atomic particles on the surface of the carrier and produce an electrical signal representative of the pattern of recorded information on the recording medium.
Inventors
- 👤 Benjamin Kazan
- 👤 Stig B.M. Hagstrom
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 09:29
CPC Classifications
B; B82; B82B; B82B3/00; B82Y; B82Y30/00; B82Y40/00; G; G11; G11B; G11B11/00; G11B11/03; G11B11/08; G11B20/00; G11B20/00086; G11B20/0021; G11B9/00; G11B9/08; G11B9/12; G11B9/14; G11B9/1409; G11B9/1463; G11B9/149; B82Y10/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
123 words
A recording and readout information system having atomic scale densities, comprising a recording medium having a carrier, means to form a pattern of atomic particles on the surface of said carrier, said atomic particles having an affinity for said carrier due - at least in part - to electrical attraction characteristics between said particles and said carrier forming a stable adhesion bond, the pattern of atomic particles produced on said carrier being representative of recorded information of ultra high density based upon the size and spacing of said particles, readout means to produce a signal representative of the presence or absence of said atomic particles on the surface of said carrier thereby representative of the pattern of recorded information on said recording medium.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
123 words
A recording and readout information system having atomic scale densities, comprising a recording medium having a carrier, means to form a pattern of atomic particles on the surface of said carrier, said atomic particles having an affinity for said carrier due - at least in part - to electrical attraction characteristics between said particles and said carrier forming a stable adhesion bond, the pattern of atomic particles produced on said carrier being representative of recorded information of ultra high density based upon the size and spacing of said particles, readout means to produce a signal representative of the presence or absence of said atomic particles on the surface of said carrier thereby representative of the pattern of recorded information on said recording medium.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
41 words
A recording and readout information system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein electrode means are used to form the pattern of atomic particles on the surface of the carrier, said electrode means comprising an electron beam or a tunnel current electrode.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
61 words
A recording medium for use in a recording and readout information system having atomic scale densities, comprising a carrier, a pattern of atomic particles formed on the surface of said carrier, said particles having an affinity for said carrier due - at least in part - to electrical attraction characteristics between said particles and said carrier forming a stable adhesion bond.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
61 words
A recording medium for use in a recording and readout information system having atomic scale densities, comprising a carrier, a pattern of atomic particles formed on the surface of said carrier, said particles having an affinity for said carrier due - at least in part - to electrical attraction characteristics between said particles and said carrier forming a stable adhesion bond.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
A recording medium as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the carrier comprises a single crystal semiconductive material and said atomic particles comprise Au atoms.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
A recording medium as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the carrier is adsorbent and the atomic particles formed on the surface thereof are adsorbate, said adsorbate atomic particles having an adsorptive affinity for said adsorbent carrier.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
A recording medium as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the material of the carrier is selected from the group consisting of ZnO, ZnIn 2 S 4 , In 2 O 3 and Ti0 2 and said adsorbate atomic particles comprise oxygen atoms.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
A recording medium as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said adsorbent carrier comprises CdS and said adsorbate atomic particles comprise S atoms.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
88 words
A method of recording information having atomic scale densities on the recording medium claimed in Claims 3-7, including the steps of forming a pattern of atomic particles on the surface of the carrier, said atomic particles having an affinity for said carrier due, at least in part, to electrical characteristics between said particles and said carrier forming a stable adhesion bond, the pattern of atomic particles produced on said carrier being representative of recorded information of ultra high density based upon the size and spacing of said particles.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
58 words
A method of recording information as claimed in Claim 8, wherein recording electrode means are scanned across the surface of the carrier to deposit the atomic particles selectively thereon to form said pattern, and a voltage is applied to said recording electrode means of sufficient magnitude to induce said particles to adhere to the surface of the carrier.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
64 words
A method of recording information as claimed in Claim 8, wherein a uniform monolayer of the atomic particles is provided on the surface of the carrier, recording electrode means are scanned across the surface of the monolayer, and a voltage is applied to said recording electrode means of sufficient magnitude to remove selected particles thereby forming the pattern of atomic particles on the carrier.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
93 words
A method of reading out information at atomic scale densities from the recording medium claimed in Claims 3 to 7, wherein a readout electrode means is scanned across the surface of the carrier, a voltage is applied to said readout electrode means creating a tunnel current between said -.electrode means and the surface of said carrier, variations of said tunnel current being representative of the presence or absence of said atomic particles on the surface of said carrier, and utilizing the variations of said tunnel current as a representation of the recorded information.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
223 words
A method of recording information as claimed in any of Claims 8 to 10, wherein the topography of said carrier surface is determined prior to recording information on the surface of said carrier by applying a voltage to a readout electrode means creating a tunnel current between said readout electrode means and the surface of said carrier, and scanning said electrode across said carrier surface, the nonrecord output signal at said readout electrode means comprising variations of said tunnel current at said electrode representative of said carrier surface topography, selectively supplying said atomic particles to the surface of said recording electrode means by inducing said particles to adhere to the surface thereof, the pattern of said atomic particles on the surface of said carrier representative of recorded information, determining again the topography of said carrier surface by applying a voltage to said readout electrode means creating a tunnel current between said electrode means and the surface of said carrier and scanning said electrode across said carrier surface, the record output signal at said electrode comprising variation of said tunnel current representative of the presence or absence of said atomic particles on the surface of said carrier, and producing a resultant readout information signal having high signal-to-noise ratio by taking the identically scanned difference between said record output signal and said nonrecord output signal.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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