The "Millipede"-more than one thousand tips for parallel and dense AFM data storage

We report on a new atomic force microscope (AFM)-based data storage concept called the "Millipede" that has a potentially ultrahigh density, terabit capacity, small form factor, and high data rate. Its potential for ultra-high storage density was demonstrated by a new thermo-mechanical local-probe technique to store, read back, and erase data in very thin polymer films.