5D optical data storage

The concept is to store data optically in non-photosensitive transparent materials such as fused quartz, which has high chemical stability. Recording data using a femtosecond-laser was first proposed and demonstrated in 1996.{{Cite journal |last1=Glezer |first1=E. N. |last2=Milosavljevic |first2=M. |last3=Huang |first3=L. |last4=Finlay |first4=R. J. |last5=Her |first5=T.-H. |last6=Callan |first6=J. P. |last7=Mazur |first7=E. |year=1996 |title=Three-dimensional optical storage inside transparent materials |journal=Optics Letters |volume=21 |issue=24 |pages=2023–2025 |bibcode=1996OptL...21.2023G |doi=10.1364/OL.21.002023 |issn=0146-9592 |pmid=19881880}}{{Cite journal |last1=Watanabe |first1=Mitsuru |last2=Juodkazis |first2=Saulius |last3=Sun |first3=Hong-Bo |last4=Matsuo |first4=Shigeki |last5=Misawa |first5=Hiroaki |last6=Miwa |first6=Masafumi |last7=Kaneko |first7=Reizo |year=1999 |title=Transmission and photoluminescence images of three-dimensional memory in vitreous silica |journal=Applied Physics Letters |volume=74 |issue=26 |pages=3957–3959 |bibcode=1999ApPhL..74.3957W |doi=10.1063/1.124235 |issn=0003-6951}} The storage medium consists of fused quartz, where the spatial dimensions, intensity, polarization, and wavelength are used to modulate data. By introducing gold or silver nanoparticles embedded in the material, their plasmonic properties can be exploited.

According to the University of Southampton:

{{Cquote|The 5-dimensional discs [have] tiny patterns printed on 3 layers within the discs. Depending on the angle they are viewed from, these patterns can look completely different. This may sound like science fiction, but it's basically a really fancy optical illusion. In this case, the 5 dimensions inside of the discs are the size and orientation in relation to the 3-dimensional position of the nanostructures. The concept of being 5-dimensional means that one disc has several different images depending on the angle that one views it from, and the magnification of the microscope used to view it. Basically, each disc has multiple layers of micro and macro level images.{{Cite web |last=Youngblood |first=Tim |date=20 February 2016 |title=5D Data Storage, How Does it Work and When Can We Use it? |url=https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/5d-data-storage-how-does-it-work-and-when-can-we-use-it/ |access-date=2 September 2019 |publisher=All About Circuits |language=en}}}}

Recorded data can be read with a combination of an optical microscope and a polarizer.{{Cite web |date=February 7, 2018 |title=Optical 'Superman' memory flies with orbiting Tesla |url=http://optics.org/news/9/2/10 |access-date=February 17, 2018 |website=Optics}}

The technique was first demonstrated in 2009 by researchers at the Swinburne University of Technology{{Cite journal |last1=Zijlstra |first1=Peter |last2=Chon |first2=James W. M. |last3=Gu |first3=Min |date=May 2009 |title=Five-dimensional optical recording mediated by surface plasmons in gold nanorods |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08053 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=459 |issue=7245 |pages=410–413 |doi=10.1038/nature08053 |pmid=19458719 |bibcode=2009Natur.459..410Z |issn=0028-0836|url-access=subscription }} and in 2010 by Kazuyuki Hirao's laboratory at the Kyoto University,{{Cite journal |last1=Shimotsuma |first1=Yasuhiko |last2=Sakakura |first2=Masaaki |last3=Kazansky |first3=Peter G. |last4=Beresna |first4=Martynas |last5=Qiu |first5=Jiarong |last6=Miura |first6=Kiyotaka |last7=Hirao |first7=Kazuyuki |year=2010 |title=Ultrafast Manipulation of Self-Assembled Form Birefringence in Glass |journal=Advanced Materials |volume=22 |issue=36 |pages=4039–4043 |bibcode=2010AdM....22.4039S |doi=10.1002/adma.201000921 |issn=0935-9648 |pmid=20734374 |s2cid=205237009 |doi-access=free}} and developed further by Peter Kazansky's research group at the Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton.{{Cite journal |last1=Beresna |first1=Martynas |last2=Gecevičius |first2=Mindaugas |last3=Kazansky |first3=Peter G. |last4=Taylor |first4=Thomas |last5=Kavokin |first5=Alexey V. |year=2012 |title=Exciton mediated self-organization in glass driven by ultrashort light pulses |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/350050/1/5670.pdf |journal=Applied Physics Letters |volume=101 |issue=5 |pages=053120 |bibcode=2012ApPhL.101e3120B |doi=10.1063/1.4742899 |issn=0003-6951}}{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Jingyu |last2=Gecevičius |first2=Mindaugas |last3=Beresna |first3=Martynas |last4=Kazansky |first4=Peter G. |year=2014 |title=Seemingly Unlimited Lifetime Data Storage in Nanostructured Glass |journal=Physical Review Letters |volume=112 |issue=3 |page=033901 |bibcode=2014PhRvL.112c3901Z |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.033901 |issn=0031-9007 |pmid=24484138 |s2cid=27040597}}{{Cite web |last1=Kazansky |first1=Peter |last2=Cerkauskaite |first2=Ausra |last3=Drevinskas |first3=Rokas |date=June 2016 |title=Optical memory enters 5D realm |url=http://live.iop-pp01.agh.sleek.net/2016/05/19/optical-memory-enters-5d-realm/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322143350/http://live.iop-pp01.agh.sleek.net/2016/05/19/optical-memory-enters-5d-realm/ |archive-date=22 March 2019 |access-date=5 February 2018 |website=Physics World}}{{Cite book |last1=Zhang |first1=J. |last2=Čerkauskaitė |first2=A. |last3=Drevinskas |first3=R. |last4=Patel |first4=A. |last5=Beresna |first5=M. |last6=Kazansky |first6=P. G. |last7=Patel |first7=A. |last8=Beresna |first8=M. |last9=Kazansky |first9=P. G. |chapter=Eternal 5D data storage by ultrafast laser writing in glass |date=2016-03-04 |editor-last=Klotzbach |editor-first=Udo |editor2-last=Washio |editor2-first=Kunihiko |editor3-last=Arnold |editor3-first=Craig B. |volume=9736 |pages=97360U |doi=10.1117/12.2220600 |issn=0277-786X |title=Laser-based Micro- and Nanoprocessing X |chapter-url=http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?doi=10.1117/12.2220600 |journal=Proceedings of SPIE |s2cid=123893150}} Discs recorded from that time have been tested for 3100 hours at 100°C and shown to still work "perfectly" ten years later.{{Cite journal |last1=Park |first1=Chang-Hyun |last2=Petit |first2=Yannick |date=2020-11-24 |title=Five-Dimensional Optical Data Storage Based on Ellipse Orientation and Fluorescence Intensity in a Silver-Sensitized Commercial Glass |journal=Micromachines |volume=11 |issue=12 |page=1026 |doi=10.3390/mi11121026 |pmc=7760589 |pmid=33255189 |doi-access=free}}

In 2018, Professor Peter Kazansky used the technology to store a copy of Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy, which was launched into space aboard Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster in association with the Arch Mission Foundation.{{cite web |url=https://newatlas.com/tesla-roadster-asimov-foundation-trilogy-arch-library/53364/ |title=Tesla Roadster carries Asimov sci-fi classic to the stars |work=New Atlas |first=David |last=Szondy |date=February 13, 2018 |access-date=February 13, 2018}}

In 2024, Kazansky's group encoded the three billion character human genome and etched it onto a coin-sized 5D disc. It includes a visual key explaining how to use it, in homage to the Pioneer plaques that were placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecrafts. It is stored in the Memory of Mankind archive, located in the world's oldest salt mine in Hallstatt, Austria.{{cite web |title=Human genome stored on 'everlasting' memory crystal |work=University of Southampton |date=September 2024 |access-date=2024-09-19 |url=https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2024/09/human-genome-stored-on-everlasting-memory-crystal-.page}}

• {{annotated link|3D optical data storage}}
• {{annotated link|Data store}}
• {{annotated link|DNA digital data storage}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.5dmemorycrystal.com/ Marketing website of the Southampton research team]

Category:Big data

Category:Solid-state computer storage media

Category:Non-volatile memory

Category:Digital preservation