A UK scientist has been awarded the Degussa European Science-to-Business Award 2006 for his pioneering work on 'spintronic 'microchips. With their ability to increase the capacity of data storage by 100 times, the new microchips look set to revolutionise modern technology.
According to the Professor, his research has proven that spintronic microchips are a workable proposition which have huge implications for the way everyday electronics devices work. Currently, storing large amounts of data requires the use of a hard disk, which can be bulky and which needs access to a large battery power source. Spintronic microchips would mean that portable devices such as mobile phones and MP3 players would be able to store vast quantities of image, audio and video files, whilst remaining very small and light.