Advanced Laser Technology Encodes Information onto a Glass Disc

Recently, scientists from the University of Southampton presented their research on their “5D” digital data disc.  The team, led by Jingyu Zhang, has developed a highly durable form of digital data, and is looking for partners to develop and commercialize their new technology.

The Southampton scientists have developed a method to store data in a small quarter-sized disc of quartz, using advanced laser technology.  The team dubbed their new data storage “5D”, as the information is encoded into five different dimensions – height, weight, length, orientation, and position.  The structures change the path of light as it travels through the quartz, affecting the polarity and intensity of the light, which allows special optical devices to read the data.  The team has proven 5D to be very durable: this digital data crystal can survive over 13 and a half billion years and can survive up to 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit.  In addition to the durability, 5D can hold 360 terabytes – that equates to 22,500 average iPhones – thanks to the use of fine lasers applied in five dimensions.

The team believes their technology can benefit museums and archivists.  These discs have already been used to store important historic documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Magna Carta, and the Holy Bible.  Zhang stated that “museums that want to preserve information, or places like the National Archives, where they have huge numbers of documents” could definitely be future users of 5D, as they would want durable copies of their fragile cultural documents (1).  According to Professor Peter Kazansky, "this technology can secure the last evidence of our civilization: all we've learnt will not be forgotten" (4).  In addition, the team believes that once the technology is fully developed, it would be of great use to national labs, cloud-computing, and other enterprises generating mass data

Currently, the scanning laser is only capable of enabling reading technology.  According to Zhang, the reading disc technology will be available in homes at an economical cost at some point in the near future.  The Southampton team is still in the process of developing writing technology.  The team still needs a significant breakthrough before they are able to save data such as music, photographs, and videos in the discs.  For now, the Southampton team’s long term goal is to store important information on the quartz discs, and preserve it in space for future generations.

                These articles overlooked the team’s reasons behind their outbreak 5D disc technology – durable storage is important, but with a life of over 13 billion years, are they trying to have their data outlive the human race and hope alien life forms find it?  And with such high capacity and durability, would the 5D discs have much room for improvement aside from expanding capacity and reducing size?

CITATIONS

1.      

            1.  Mullen, Jethro. "New 'Superman' crystals can store data for billions of years." CNN Money.                N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2016. <http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/17/technology/5d-data-storage-            memory-crystals/index.html>.

2.       Mierian, Lucas. "'Superman' crystals could store 360TB of data forever." Computerworld. N.p., n.d. 

        Web. 11 Mar. 2016. <http://www.computerworld.com/article/2483919/emerging-technology/ 

        -superman--crystals-could-store-360tb-of-data-forever.html>. 

3.       Perkins, Ceri. "5D 'Superman memory crystal' heralds unlimited lifetime data storage." 

       Physicsworld.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2016. <http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/ news/2013/

       jul/17/5d-superman-memory-crystal-heralds-unlimited-lifetime-data-storage>. 

4.       "5D Crystal Storage Could Outlive Human Race." Sky News. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2016. <http://

       news.sky.com/story/1643511/5d-crystal-storage-could-outlive-human-race>.