Expedited Award: Interfacial Morphology of Polymer Thin Films for Computer Memory Applications

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Research Summary: The research is focused on the use of polymeric thin films in the microelectronics/computer industry. Major areas being studied include high density reversible mass data storage by direct laser writing and erasure in organic thin films, interfacial properties and phase morphology determination of these films, and preparation and characterization of these thin films. Both in-depth experimental investigations and model simulations of key processes will be pursued in order to develop feasible systems and optimize processing conditions. Impact on Current Technology: Success of this research will allow data in massive amounts to be stored, erased at will, and transferred in real time. All these tasks can be accomplished in light weight and compact organic media. Information processing will therefore no longer be limited by current magnetic disk technology, which suffers from frequent head crashes, accidental erasure by stray magnetic fields and generally low data density. The last drawback stems from the fact that reading and writing heads can not be miniaturized as to address spots smaller than about 50 square micrometers. In contrast, laser pulses can be focused to expose areas as small as 1 square micrometer. It is clear that if optical media are developed, a major bottleneck of computer technology evolution will be removed.