China: Scientists achieve data storage using a single electron, via a graphene chip

Scientists at the Fudan University in Shanghai have developed a two-dimensional flash memory that can store data at room temperature using a solitary electron. This drastically brings down the amount of energy needed for processing data and could potentially allow artificial intelligence (AI) models to run on phones. The most advanced random access memory (RAM) storage devices that we use today are built to do two things. One is to store binary data on them and the second is to prevent them from fading into noise. To do this, these chips require vast reservoirs of energy in the form of electrons. Estimates suggest that a single bit of information requires around 200,000 electrons for reliable storage. So, it the energy consumption could be reduced considerably, it could allow more data processing to happen locally, instead of relying on large data centers. The concept has been around for a while, and multiple attempts have been made to achieve this reality, but success has remained elusive until now. Guiyi: Return to One Since memory storage devices are reservoirs of electrons, detecting a single electron is akin to detecting ripples caused by a single drop of water in a large reservoir. A team of scientists led by microelectronics professor Zhou Peng addressed this challenge by designing a two-dimensional (2D) flash chip using super-thin material graphene. The design effectively changed the ‘wall of the reservoir’ so that electrons could not escape and the ripple of a single electron could be amplified in the form of a large signal. In their research, the team found that the single-electron signal in this system was about 0.5 volts, as against tens of millivolts detected in other experimental systems. Inspiration for the chip design comes from a Chinese Buddhist phrase that suggests that even a tiny mustard seed can hold Mount Sumeru (a mythological mountain) and all great truths converge into one. Zhou’s team refers to their technique as Guiyi, which means ‘return to one’. In addition to demonstrating single-electron data storage, the Guiyi technique also helped verify programming voltage quantization and self-limiting programming, quantum behaviors that could be used to enable precise reading and writing of the Nth quantum state, increasing the amount of information that can be stored on a single chip. What happens next? Since the technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we store binary data and use it, enthusiasts are keen to see it commercialized and enter mainstream applications. Zhou plans to float a company within this year to bring the technology to the market within the next five years. To do that, the technology has to first enter mass production stage, following which it can disrupt existing approaches and “shake up the data storage industry,” Zhou told South China Morning Post. The 2D-chip isn’t Zhou’s only offering to data storage technology. Last year, the researchers unveiled PoX, the world’s fastest non-volatile storage in April and then followed it up with Changying, an atomic chip integration framework, six months later. Changying allows PoX to integrate with silicon-based hardware, making the world’s first 2D silicon hybrid flash memory chip. These advances will definitely help build a future where AI models could actually be run on the phone with minimal power consumption.