Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!dali.cs.montana.edu!milton!jsp
From: jsp@milton.u.washington.edu (Jeff Prothero)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: What's wrong with CRT storage?
Message-ID: <JSP.90Aug3123600@milton.u.washington.edu>
Date: 3 Aug 90 19:36:00 GMT
Sender: news@milton.u.washington.edu
Distribution: comp
Lines: 29

A recent discussion here focussed on the
difficulty of building nonrotating optical
mass storage due to difficulty of steering
the beam.  Why not use electron beams to
read/write nonrotating electric mass storage?

Points in favor:

o  Established technology -- used in some of
   the earliest computers :-).  More seriously,
   CRT tubes *are* a well-developed technology
   in general.

o  Potential storage density higher than optical.
   (We use scanning electron microscopes to see
   features too small for optical microscopes.)

o  Potential low seek times.  How long does it
   take a really fast oscilliscope to seek side-
   to-side?

o  Potential non-volatile storage.  EEPROMs and
   electrets show that electric charge *can* be
   stored for considerable periods.

Is there some fundamental reason electron-beam
mass storage can't compete with optical and
magnetic mass storage?  Has any work been done
on this since the 50s?