R&D: 4D Ultra-High-Density Long Storage Supported by Solid-State Optically Active Polymeric Material With High Thermal Stability

Advanced Optical Materials has published an article written by Le Gao, Laboratory of Artificial-Intelligence Nanophotonics, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3001 Australia, Institute of Photonic Chips, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093 China, and Centre for Artificial-Intelligence Nanophotonics, School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093 China,Qiming Zhang, Institute of Photonic Chips, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093 China, and Centre for Artificial-Intelligence Nanophotonics, School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093 China, Richard A. Evans, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Research Way, Clayton, Victoria, 3168 Australia, and Min Gu, Laboratory of Artificial-Intelligence Nanophotonics, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3001 Australia, Institute of Photonic Chips, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093 China, and Centre for Artificial-Intelligence Nanophotonics, School of Optical-Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093 China.

Abstract: “The big data era has presented major challenges for data centers worldwide in information preservation aspects, such as storage capacity and long-term sustainability. Here, a newly synthesized optically active polymeric material based on a highly thermally stable penta-functional monomer dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate is reported. This material supports ultra-high storage density with century-long data lifetime utilizing the galvo-dithered direct laser writing nanofabrication technique. Eighty layers of bit arrays and 16 grayscale-level coding examples are demonstrated to confirm the feasibility of the 4D data storage with a data density reaching 10 terabytes per digital video disc. With the much-improved thermal stability (the data degradation point reaches beyond 600 K) than average plastic materials, such as polymethylmethacrylate, this new polymeric material allows a data lifetime of nearly 250 years at room temperature (300 K), as confirmed by the accelerated aging test. This material offers a suitable storage medium solution for next generation optical data storage centers.“