Patent ID: 8445122

Claim:
A data storage medium comprising: a carrier substrate having an electrode layer on the surface thereof; a sensitive material layer extending along the electrode layer and sensitive to localized modification between two electrical states under a localized electric field; and the storage medium having a reference plane globally parallel to the sensitive material layer, and configured to have at least one element passed along the reference plane for application of an electrostatic field in combination with the electrode layer, wherein the storage medium includes, parallel to the reference plane, a plurality of electrically conductive portions in the electrode layer and separated by interspersed electrically insulative zones in the electrode layer, the electrically insulative zones comprising an electrically insulating material different from the sensitive material layer, the electrically conductive portions and the interspersed electrically insulative zones being covered by the sensitive material layer, the electrically conductive portions having, in at least one direction parallel to the reference plane, a dimension at most equal to 100 nm, wherein at least some of the electrically conductive portions are electrically interconnected, the electrically conductive portions and the electrically insulative zones defining data write/read locations within the sensitive material layer, such that electric field lines are focused between the at least one element and the electrically conductive portions.