Chinese scientists create technology to store 50 terabytes of data on a single DVD

Researchers at the University of Shanghai have achieved a significant breakthrough in the field of optical data storage. According to Ixbt.com, the multi-dimensional optical recording technology they have developed allows for the recording of 1024 states at once in a single three-dimensional point, instead of the traditional two states. This, in turn, provides the ability to encode 10 bits of information through a single point. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports .

For information, in standard memory production, each cell can only store two states — '0' or '1', meaning one bit of information. The new technology dramatically increases the information capacity of a point, ensuring it can distinguish between 1024 different gradations. As a result, storage density has been significantly increased without the need to shrink point sizes or increase the number of layers.

Future possibilities and high reliability

According to initial estimates by experts, using the current system configuration, it would be theoretically possible to fit approximately 50 terabytes of data onto a medium the size of a standard DVD. It is specifically noted that the reading reliability is higher than 99.99 percent.

Another important advantage of this development is that it is based on a single-beam architecture. Many high-density optical memory systems use two laser beams that require precise alignment and stabilization. Chinese researchers, however, have managed to perform writing and reading processes using a single beam, which significantly simplifies the optical system.

Prospects in petabytes

Researchers believe that the technology has even greater potential beyond current achievements. If the distance between layers is reduced from 5 micrometers to 1 micrometer and the number of distinguishable states is increased to tens of thousands, the theoretical capacity of a DVD-sized disc could reach nearly 2.5 petabytes of data.

This innovative development is expected to open new doors for archiving, storing, and processing large volumes of data in the future. Such a high level of modernization of optical discs could lead to a fundamental shift in the long-term digital data storage market.