Nanoscale memory planned by 2004

from the smaller-cooler-sooner? dept.
DARPA researcher pursues 'nanomemory' (a UPI Science News article by Scott R. Burnell, published 8/4/2002) reports that DARPA program manager Kwan Kwok "plans to have a working nanoscale computer memory by 2004. If so, one square centimeter's worth of the device Kwok envisions could hold more than 10 gigabytes of data, enough for several full-length movies." The report provides no details on the arrays of molecular wires that are planned. Although only a factor of 30 or so beyond the storage density of current state-of-the-art hard drives, 'nanomemory' would also be superior to current dynamic random access memory (DRAM) in terms of much lower heat production and power use.