5D Optical storage technology: capacity up to 360TB, life expectancy of more than million years

Scientists from the University of Southampton have recently demonstrated a 5D laser storage technology that compares existing storage media with an unprecedented advantage: storage capacity up to 360TB, heat-resistant temperatures up to 1000 degrees Celsius, and a life cycle of more than million years.

Using nano-structured glass, the University of Southampton scientists first experimented with 5D femtosecond data laser reading and writing. This technology allows a number of storage media parameters to achieve an incredible degree of storage capacity of up to 360TB, heat-resistant temperature up to 1000 degrees Celsius, as well as the unlimited service life.

The storage medium is compared to the "technical crystals" in the film Superman, which are stored in the fused quartz of self-assembled nanostructures for a period of up to millions of years.

Information is stored in 5 different sizes, and the size and orientation properties are added to the 3D nano-architecture. The demo uses a 5D laser to store a 300KB copy of the data quickly, and the file is written to a 3-layer nano-structure dot 5 microns apart. Self-assembled nanostructures change the path of light in the glass, modify the polarization of the light, and read the optical microscope and polarizer, similar to the principle of polarizing sunglasses.

The study was led by ORC researcher Jingyu Zhang and a joint project led by Eindhoven http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/17810.html "> University of Science and Technology". Jinyu Zhang Mentioned:

We use glass to construct a very stable and safe form of data storage that is very helpful to organizations with large files. Now, given the lifecycle of hardware drive storage, these companies have to back up their files every 5-10 years.