Three collaborating teams of scientists from different parts of the world have developed the latest technology for recording and storing information, which will increase the storage density on optical discs by a million times. Specialists from Kazan Federal University, Imperial College London and Harvard University are behind the development.
According to experts, now the main reason for the limitations of the recording density index and maximum capacity is the basic laws of physics, according to which light cannot be focused in an area less than half the wavelength of the light used. It was the decision of how to get around this limitation that needed to be addressed. And the solution was found. According to Sergei Kharintsev from Kazan Federal University, “In the presented recording technology, the focusing of light is performed using optical nanoantennas illuminated by laser light with a certain radial and azimuthal polarization, and the information carrier layer is made on the basis of an optical anisotropic polymer film made of the so-called azo-dye. Sections of this film are oriented perpendicular to the direction of polarization of the light incident on them, and, in addition, the polarization of the resulting light flux depends on the geometry of the nanoantenna itself. Switching between azimuthal and radial polarization of light allows you to write or read information. The switching speed depends on the mobility of the elements that make up the azo-dye, which, in turn, depends on the thickness of the layer - the information carrier”.
Now scientists are working on creating a prototype of the information carrier, which will ensure the density of information storage. The developed recording technology makes it possible to achieve a storage density of about 100 terabytes per square decimeter, which is 38 times higher than that of the most capacious hard drives, but in the future, the density may be increased to 1 petabyte per square decimeter, which is a million times higher than the density recording on a regular DVD.
VLADIMIR KUZNETSOV
