Developed by University of Southampton researchers, the lasers etch tiny structures in the discs that can be used for long-term “five-dimensional (5D)” optical data storage that is more than 10,000 times denser than Blu-Ray optical disc storage technology.
The new method for writing data encompasses two optical dimensions plus three spatial dimensions.
“Individuals and organisations are generating ever-larger data sets, creating the desperate need for more efficient forms of data storage with a high capacity, low energy consumption and long lifetime,” said doctoral researcher Yuhao Lei.
“While cloud-based systems are designed more for temporary data, we believe that 5D data storage in glass could be useful for longer-term data storage for national archives, museums, libraries or private organisations.”
The new approach can write at speeds of 1,000,000 voxels per second, which is equivalent to recording about 230 kilobytes of data (more than 100 pages...