Nanochip’s forthcoming array-based memory will provide an alternative to both flash memory and hard drives. In addition to storing more data than flash, it will be cheaper and can be about as fast.

The first prototypes will store about 100 gigabytes; eventually, the devices could store terabytes’ worth of data.

The Nanochip technology stores information by applying a voltage to a thin-film material using an array of microscopic cantilevers, each with an extremely sharp tip. The size of each bit will be 15 nanometers in the first devices, but could theoretically be as small as just a couple of nanometers.