5D Optical Memory in Nanostructured Quartz Glass for Unlimited Lifetime Storage

Using nanostructured glass, scientists at the
University of Southampton have experimentally demonstrated the recording and
retrieval processes of five dimensional digital data by femtosecond laser
writing.

The storage allows parameters
including 360TB/disc data capacity, thermal stability up to 1,000°C and
practically unlimited lifetime.

Coined as the Superman memory crystal, as the glass
memory has been compared to the ‘memory crystals’ used in the Superman films,
the data is recorded via self-assembled nanostructures created in fused quartz,
which is able to store vast quantities of data for over a million years. The
information encoding is realised in five dimensions: the size and orientation
in addition to the three dimensional position of these nanostructures.

A 300kb digital copy of a text file was recorded in
5D using ultrafast laser, producing extremely short and intense pulses of
light. The file is written in three layers of nanostructured dots separated by
five micrometres (one millionth of a metre).

The self-assembled nanostructures change the way
light travels through glass, modifying polarisation of light that can then be
read by combination of optical microscope and a polariser, similar to that
found in Polaroid sunglasses.

    Jingyu Zhang

The research is led by Jingyu Zhang from the
University’s Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) and conducted under a joint
project with Eindhoven University of Technology.

"We are developing a very stable and safe form
of portable memory using glass, which could be highly useful for organisations
with big archives. At the moment companies have to back up their archives every
five to ten years because hard-drive memory has a relatively short
lifespan," says Jingyu."Museums who want to preserve information or
places like the national archives where they have huge numbers of documents,
would really benefit."

The Physical Optics group from the ORC presented
their paper at the photonics industry’s renowned Conference on Lasers and
Electro-Optics (CLEO’13) in San Jose. The paper, 5D Data Storage by Ultrafast
Laser Nanostructuring in
Glass
was presented by the during CLEO’s post deadline session.

This work was done in the framework of EU project
Femtoprint.

Professor Peter Kazansky, ORC’s group
supervisor, adds: "It is thrilling to think that we have created the first
document which will likely survive the human race. This technology can secure
the last evidence of civilisation: all we’ve learnt will not be
forgotten."

The team are now looking
for industry partners to commercialise this technology.