Researchers show certain sounds can move data quickly

Researchers from Universities of Sheffield and Leeds have shown that certain types of sound waves could move data quickly, using minimal power which could be the answer to faster computing or accessing the data needed by users.

The sound used takes the form of surface acoustic waves - the same as the most destructive wave emanating from an earthquake.

Although already harnessed for use in electronics and other areas of engineering, this comes as the first application of surface acoustic waves to a data storage system.

"The key advantage of surface acoustic waves in this application is their ability to travel up to several centimetres without decaying, which at the nano-scale is a huge distance," explained Tom Hayward from University of Sheffield.

"Because of this, we think a single sound wave could be used to 'sing' to large numbers of nanowires simultaneously, enabling us to move a lot of data using very little power," he added.

The world's data was mostly held on hard disc drives - magnetic discs that worked like miniaturised record players, with the data read by sensors that scanned over the disk's surface while it spun.

But because this involved moving parts, there were limits on how fast it could operate.

Tom Hayward and John Cunningham found that the direction of data flow depended on the pitch of the sound generated effectively they "sang" to the data to move it.

According to Hayward, the key advantage of surface acoustic waves in this application was their ability to travel up to several centimetres without decaying, which at the nano-scale was a huge distance.

"Because of this, we think a single sound wave could be used to "sing" to large numbers of nanowires simultaneously, enabling us to move a lot of data using very little power. We're now aiming to create prototype devices in which this concept can be fully tested."

The journal Applied Physics Letters has published the study.