◎陳成良

Researchers have demonstrated a form of archive memory using carbon nanotubes that can theoretically store a trillion bits of data per square inch for a billion years.

研究人員展示了一種使用奈米碳管、理論上每平方英寸面積能儲存1兆位元資料達10億年的資料庫記憶體。

The technology could easily be incorporated into today’s silicon processing systems and it could be available in the next two years, a lead researcher said.

這項科技能輕易地融入到目前的矽晶片處理系統中，並可在未來兩年內問世，一位主要研究人員表示。

The scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California said the new technology can potentially pack thousands of times more data into one square inch of space than today’s chips.

美國能源部所屬勞倫斯柏克萊國家實驗室及加州大學的科學家表示，與今日的晶片相較，這項科技有能力將數千倍以上的資料放進一平方英寸空間裡。

Researchers said this latest nanotube breakthrough uses an iron nanoparticle, approximately 1/50,000th the width of a human hair, that in the presence of a low voltage electrical current can be shuttled back and forth inside a hollow carbon nanotube with remarkable precision.

研究人員表示，這項最新奈米管突破，使用一個寬度約人類頭髮5萬分之一的鐵奈米粒子，在低電壓電流狀態中，能極其精準地在一個中空碳奈米管中來回穿梭。

The shuttle’s position inside the tube can be read out directly via a simple measurement of electrical resistance, allowing the shuttle to function as a nonvolatile memory element with potentially hundreds of binary memory states.

該穿梭體在管內的位置，能經由簡單的電阻測量直接讀取，讓該穿梭體具有非揮發性記憶體元件的功能，可以儲存數百種二進位的記憶狀態。

新聞辭典

incorporate：動詞，合併；混合。例句：We will incorporate your suggestion in this new plan.（我們將把你的建議納入這項新計畫。）

hollow：形容詞，空的；中空的。例句：These chocolate eggs are all hollow. （這些巧克力蛋都是空心的。）

via：介系詞，經由；憑、藉（=by means of）。via air mail以航空郵寄。

自由時報-980620

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