So, 47 years ago started a story in Electronics Weekly’s edition of July 26 1978
The story continues:
According to IBM they provide the potential for a dramatic increase in the amount of information which could be packed into a bubble device in a given area.
This is because each bubble, regardless of its size, can hold only one bit of information.
As an example, a square in. garnet with three micron bubbles today can hold three million bits of information, whereas in the near future a square in. of garnet material may be able to hold 100 million bits of information, using the 0.4 microns reported by IBM.
The experiments were carried out by Edward A. Giess and Robert J. Kobliska at the IBM Thomas Watson Research Center.
The pair focussed their attention on measuring the physical and chemical properties of garnets, examining the formation of magnetic bubbles in magnetic fields representative of those needed for bubble devices.
Although their work did not include the making of devices, Giess believes the study furnishes important basic data needed if devices using bubbles smaller than a micron are to be designed.
“This is really a framework for submicron bubble garnet chem-istry,” he says. “I am sure the device engineers will find our work useful. The more bubbles you can put on a chip, the lower the cost on that chip and that’s what you want.”
