R&D: Recent Advances in Functional Materials for Optical Storage

Molecules has published an article written by Dihua Dai, Yong Zhang, Siwen Yang, Weicheng Kong, China Hualu Group Co., Ltd., 717 Huangpu Road, Dalian 116023, China, Jie Yang, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun 130012, China^, and Jijun Zhang, China Hualu Group Co., Ltd., 717 Huangpu Road, Dalian 116023, China.

Abstract: “In the current data age, the fundamental research related to optical applications has been rapidly developed. Countless new-born materials equipped with distinct optical properties have been widely explored, exhibiting tremendous values in practical applications. The optical data storage technique is one of the most significant topics of the optical applications, which is considered as the prominent solution for conquering the challenge of the explosive increase in mass data, to achieve the long-life, low-energy, and super high-capacity data storage. On this basis, our review outlines the representative reports for mainly introducing the functional systems based on the newly established materials applied in the optical storage field. According to the material categories, the representative functional systems are divided into rare-earth doped nanoparticles, graphene, and diarylethene. In terms of the difference of structural features and delicate properties among the three materials, the application in optical storage is comprehensively illustrated in the review. Meanwhile, the potential opportunities and critical challenges of optical storage are also discussed in detail.“