Researchers at China's University of Science and Technology published research this week in which they detail how they achieved record-breaking storag

Chinese boffins find way to use diamonds as super-dense and durable storage medium

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2024-11-30 10:00:07

Researchers at China's University of Science and Technology published research this week in which they detail how they achieved record-breaking storage density of 1.85 terabytes per cubic centimeter by encoding information in diamonds.

To put it in context, advanced hard disk drives can achieve around one terabyte per cubic centimeter, although higher densities have been reported. Enterprise HDDs can last up to a decade. Blu-ray discs, which have similar storage density, can last longer. According to USTC, its technique for encoding data in diamonds produces both greater density and vastly greater durability.

The research, published in Nature Photonics, highlights that the breakthrough extends beyond density. It is said to offer significant improvements in write times – as little as 200 femtoseconds – and lives up to the promise that "a diamond is forever" by offering millions of years of allegedly maintenance-free storage. Diamonds are highly stable by nature and the the authors have claimed their medium could protect data for 100 years even if kept at 200°C.

Scientists have been eyeing diamonds as storage devices for a while. Researchers at City College of New York in 2016 claimed to be the first group to demonstrate the viability of using diamond as a platform for superdense memory storage.

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