Patent ID: 7102979

Claim:
A storage device comprising: an electron emitter; an atomic resolution storage medium having a storage area, a structural state of the storage area being alterable by a beam of electrons emitted by the electron emitter to represent information stored in the storage area; a lens to adjust the focal point of the beam of electrons emitted from the electron emitter onto the atomic resolution storage medium; a sensing switch coupled to the electron emitter to sense voltage on the electron emitter, the sensing switch being a sensing diode; an amplifier coupled to the sensing switch that follows the voltage on the electron emitter, wherein the sensing switch is coupled to an input of the amplifier and the output of the amplifier is coupled to the lens; a compensating diode coupled to the sensing diode and the amplifier, wherein the compensating diode compensates for a voltage drop across the sensing diode; and a bias resistor coupled to an amplifier side of the compensating diode and ground, wherein the output of the amplifier drives the voltage on the lens.