High-density recording media

Abstract

A high-density recording medium comprising a fullerene/carbon nanotube complex (peapod) comprising a single-wall carbon tube in which fullerenes are inserted in series. A structural difference between a locally bound portion and a non-bound portion of the series of fullerenes is recorded as binary information. The limit of storage capacity in conventional recording media based on micrometer-level binarization information recording techniques can be overcome, and a nanoscale binarization information recording technique is provided.

1 . A high-density recording medium comprising a fullerene/carbon nanotube complex (peapod) comprising a single-wall carbon nanotube in which fullerenes are inserted in series, wherein the structural difference between a locally bound portion and a non-bound portion of the series of fullerenes is recorded as binary information.  
     
     
         2 . A method of recording a structural difference between a bound portion and a non-bound portion as binary information in a fullerene/carbon nanotube complex (peapod) comprising a single-wall carbon nanotube in which fullerenes are inserted in series, said method comprising irradiating said complex with an energy beam when said complex is heated so as to cause only fullerenes at specific sites to bind to each other.  
     
     
         3 . A method of reading a high-density recording medium comprising a fullerene/carbon nanotube complex (peapod) comprising a single-wall carbon nanotube in which fullerenes are inserted in series, wherein the structural difference between a locally bound portion and a non-bound portion of said series of fullerenes is recorded as binary information, said method comprising irradiating said medium with an energy beam and reading said structural difference between said locally bound portion and said non-bound portion on the basis of the reflectivity of said energy beam.