Future large data storage: 1PB only need one CD

&http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/37954.html ">nbsp; Data storage can be done more easily in the future, regardless of individual users, or corporate government agencies of different sizes. Professor Mingu, head of research at the University of Science and Technology (Swinburneuniversityoftechnology), recently developed a new way of storing data to store 1PB (1024TB) of data on a polymer disc with a DVD size only.

Large data storage in today's world has become particularly necessary, and we humans since entering the digital age, currently only stored on the Web content is expected to be about 1ZB (zettabyte,1 trillion GB), the United States a year of phone records need 0.3ZB storage space for storage.

Protecting the world's data from loss and accidental loss is also a tricky business. Discard the local concept, and do not think it is safe to switch to cloud storage, especially if the hacker attacks the cloud server you are using, the data store suffers more damage. For existing local storage, if we want to have 1ZB of data on a Blu-ray disc, and then stack the discs together, then the height of this stack of discs can reach 24km. Perhaps the traditional hard disk can be stacked less space, but the cost is incalculable.

So how do you solve the problem of data storage? Academics from the University of Technology and the Australian Federal Organization for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIRO) seem to be working on more ingenious solutions. Their latest research allows 1PB of data to be stored on DVD-only discs, which means that 1ZB of data will be available for only 1000 such discs, although 1000 discs may sound a bit more, but stacking the height of 1 meters is a lot better than Blu-ray Disc 24km.

The team, published in the June 29, 2013 issue of the journal Nature Communications (Naturecommunications), describes how to reduce the dot width of optical records on the plastic layer from 130nm of blue to 9nm, equivalent to 1% of the wavelength of a single light. Why can't Blu-ray technology do that? Optical physicist, also one of the founders of the Zeiss division, Ernstabbe previously discovered a basic characteristic of light. At the end of 19th century, his lens experiment showed that the light had its natural wavelength and could not be concentrated in points less than 1/3 of its wavelength (airydisk, airy). Blu-ray technology uses a 440nm wavelength blue laser to read the disc, so the blue dot width is limited to 130nm.

Australian scholars have issued a new type of organic polymerization catalyst, which can produce 2 different reactions to the light, thus avoiding the limitations found by Abbe. The 800nm laser allows the catalyst to split into polymeric compounds, which, when plentiful, can induce monomer polymerization. However, when the 375nm laser is used for the catalyst, the inhibitor is released, preventing monomer polymerization.

To write a smaller spot width than the airy patch to the photosensitive photoresist material, the 800nm wavelength laser beam is first directed to the not-polymerized storage medium. These light can be polymerized by photoresist at the position where the light intensity is sufficient to release the polymeric active material. To release enough active material, the light intensity must be higher than a certain value, and the polymer point size can become smaller.

At the same time, the 375nm photoconductive to the same focus, so that the active substance and the inhibitor will achieve the basic balance of the airy spot. At this time, no polymers are formed. Then the 375nm laser is turned into a ring mode.

As we have previously said, 800nm of light itself can aggregate points to about 100nm in diameter. Coupled with a restraining portion of the annular 375nm outer ring, the photoresist portion of the outer ring does not converge. This allows the polymer point to eventually shrink to a size of 9nm.

In addition to the recent rapid development of 3D printing technology, the Australian researchers also proved that their new optical polymerization technology can make small 3D objects. It is clear that this new type of storage technology is still a long way from formal business, there are still many problems to be solved. But at least in the future we can see the advent of future high-capacity storage discs.