IBM and others are racing to induce a quantum jump in computer chip performance by building them from carbon nanotubes instead of silicon.

A demonstrated holographic storage device is the foundation for a commercial range of drives from 300 gigabytes (that can store more than 35 hours of broadcast-quality high-definition video) to 1.6 terabytes.

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NTT Labs has begun field trials of a truly revolutionary, pocket-sized “human area networking” technology called RedTacton that uses the natural electrical fields of human skin to transmit data over the surface of the body at up to 10 megabits per second between wearable devices. Data can also be exchanged with another person carrying the device, simply by shaking hands, or with any machine equipped with the technology. It offers better security and far less interference than short-range wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, ZigBee and Near-Field Communications. A University of Washington researcher who has worked on similar technology said RedTacton far exceeds the capabilities of any of the existing electrical-sensor-based projects.

It could replace the plethora of plastic — ID cards, credit cards – littering our wallets. It can be used to carry data between an MP3 player and a wireless headset, between wearable medical devices, to pay for things, and as an alternative to security badges. A car equipped with the technology would recognize the individual driver the moment s/he touches the door, unlocking it and adjusting the seats and mirrors to that driver’s pre-set preferences. Medicine bottles would only open to the authorized individual. Because RedTacton is not susceptible to wireless snooping, touch-based purchases would be private and secure. It could function much like RFID, enabling organizations to track who accessed what equipment and when.

Molecular Computing

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IBM and Infineon are among companies racing to develop transistors out of carbon nanotubes, which would lead to faster, less power-hungry, more densely packed, and easier to build computer chips than is possible with silicon and copper. IBM already has a third-generation prototype nanotube wire that handles up to 1,000 times more current than the copper wires used with silicon chips, making it vastly more efficient. In addition to being excellent conductors of heat, the tubes are 10 times stronger than steel and radiation-resistant – important because as chips get smaller, they grow more vulnerable to high-energy solar particles.

Still, formidable problems that may take a decade or more to resolve remain to be overcome before all-nanotube chips are possible. In the meantime, we can expect to see hybrid silicon-nanotube designs. Nantero and LSI Logic are developing nanotube RAM chips using existing silicon processes. They will be as fast and dense as today’s RAM chips but can maintain data without power.