Scientists have developed a special type of glass that can store and rewrite 3D patterns, offering a stable and long-lasting way to save information.
This breakthrough, published in ACS Energy Letters, could lead to a new form of high-capacity optical data storage.
Photochromic glass is a material that changes color when exposed to different types of light. It is already used in eyeglasses that darken in sunlight and return to clear indoors.
Researchers have been studying this glass for data storage because it can potentially hold information for thousands of years without needing electricity.
However, the challenge has been finding a way to write, erase, and rewrite data repeatedly without damaging the material.
A team led by Jiayan Liao, Ji Zhou, and Zhengwen Yang has now made significant progress. They created a new type of photochromic glass using gallium silicate modified with magnesium and terbium ions.
This special glass allows for writing and erasing 3D patterns using lasers and heat.
Using a green laser with a 532-nanometer (nm) wavelength, the researchers inscribed tiny patterns into thin slabs of the doped glass.
The patterns included dots, symbols, QR codes, and even a small bird. These designs appear purple inside the transparent glass but can change color when exposed to specific light wavelengths.
- Terbium ions glow green when exposed to deep violet light at 376 nm.
- Magnesium ions glow red when exposed to violet light at 417 nm.
This ability to display multiple colors makes it possible to read stored data in different ways, increasing its potential for secure and high-capacity storage.
To erase the patterns completely, the team heated the glass to 1,022 degrees Fahrenheit (550 degrees Celsius) for 25 minutes.
This process resets the glass without altering its structure, making it reusable for endless cycles of data writing and erasing.
The ability to store and rewrite 3D information in glass could be used in many fields, including data storage, encryption, and security. Industries such as technology, defense, and academia could benefit from this innovation by storing vast amounts of data safely and efficiently.
This discovery marks an exciting step toward stable, rewritable, and long-lasting optical memory systems, paving the way for future advancements in digital storage.
