Data storage systems are developing more and more actively every year. Back in the early 2000s, DVDs were sufficient for most needs. Then came the era of Blu-Ray and SSD drives. DNA-based memory development is currently underway, but scientists from Australia have proposed something new: they want to use a low-power laser and salt nanocrystals.
A team of three higher Australian institutions is responsible for the new study: experts from the universities of South Australia, Adelaide and the University of New South Wales. The technology is based on the effect of a low-power laser on salt nanocrystals with fluorescent properties. Using certain patterns, the laser can transmit and record data. According to one of the authors of the work, Dr. Nick Risen, “Fluorescence of salt nanocrystals may represent a promising alternative to traditional HDDs and SSDs, as well as Blu-Ray discs. In the course of experiments, we managed to create optical structures for storing data in salt nanocrystals, which cannot even be seen with the naked eye. This allows for very high recording densities."
Moreover, the new method is "multilayer", that is, 1 nanocrystal can store several bits of data, which, moreover, are rewritable. The technology makes it possible to use low-power lasers, making it affordable for consumer electronics. Using "patterns of laser behavior change", scientists have succeeded in achieving the fact that a laser beam can both transmit and read data, and salt nanocrystals can be embedded in plastic, glass or any other material, giving them almost any shape, which makes such storage media very comfortable in the long run.
Vladimir Kuznetsov
