Superman has inspired all of us to be righteous and just. But, did you know it has also inspired a technological advancement in data storage technology. Read this article and learn all about this technology- 5D Optical Data Storage.
With the explosion of data storage demand, we are in dire need of more energy-efficient, data storage devices with higher capacity and longer lifespan. The data storage devices we see today are primarily either disk drives like HDD or magnetic tapes, but HDDs are not energy-efficient and have lower lifespans whereas magnetic tapes have longer access latency and are prone to degradation.
In search of better alternatives, we went back to optical disks. They have low energy consumption and are non-volatile. Although they have a limit on their data storage capacity, if improved they can be a perfect alternative. This gave rise to a new contender for data storage in the future- 5D Optical Data Storage.
Let us take a look at the scope of this technology.
Whether you are a fan of comic books and cartoons or not, I am sure you must have heard of Superman before. When you dive into the lore of Superman, you would see a fictional Memory Crystal often seen in the Fortress of Solitude which acts as a repository of Kryptonian knowledge.
This inspired researchers, to what if we also create a similar crystal structure for storage. That is how an idea from science fiction gave birth to real-world technological advancement known as 5D Optical Data Storage. This is also the reason that this technology was given the moniker of Superman Memory Crystal.
Well, it is not like we are going to save data outside of the 4 dimensions of space and time. So how did the term “5D” come into the picture?
The disc itself has 3 Physical Dimensions. The other 2 dimensions refer to the Encoding Dimensions. While traditional optical discs rely on the presence or absence of pits, 5D optical storage utilizes the Birefringes property to create another way of how data is encoded.
By manipulating the polarization of the laser researchers can exploit the inherent birefringences of the nanogratings, it is possible to encode more data in the same layer without adding any additional layers.
Note: Imagine light as a wave traveling through a material. In most materials, like air or glass, the light wave will travel in a straight line. However, in birefringent materials, the light wave gets split into two separate rays that travel at different speeds and in a slightly different direction. This property of materials is called Birefringences or Double Refraction.
This is why the term 5D is used accounting for 3 Physical Dimensions and 2 Encoding Dimensions.
Imagine you have a numeric combination lock with a dial that can be set to different numbers and a keyhole. In traditional optical media, you only have one type of key, let's say a silver key. Each time you turn the key, the lock either opens (representing a "1" or presence of data) or doesn't (representing a "0" or absence of data), based solely on the position of the dial.
Now, in 5D storage, you have a special lock that not only relies on the dial's position. It also depends on the color of the key you use. Instead of just a silver key, you have keys of different colors: red, blue, and green. Each color represents a different layer of data.
So, when you use the red key depending upon the numeric combination the lock will still open (1) or not (0). But this time a different area is opened in the lock. Now use the green key and a third section of data will open.
So, in short originally in traditional optical media, you had access to only one storage space. But in 5D optical Storage, you have access to multiple rooms to store data so you can store more data in the same media.
The basic working principle of 5D Optical Data Storage is based on its two major components a fused Quartz material and a Femtosecond Laser.
The data is encoded in the quartz material to store it. This is done by.
To decode the data a similar smaller setup is used.
5D Optical Storage has many advantages which is why, it has been extensively researched. These include.
Just like any other tech along with advantages, 5D optical storage has some disadvantages also. These include.
The future of 5D Optical storage seems very bright.
To conclude, we can say that 5D Optical Data Storage has immense potential that revolutionize the data storage industry. Although still in the infancy stage, its lucrative advantages make it worth researching and developing further.
I hope by reading this article your understanding of 5D Optical Storage has increased. If you liked the article, do share it.