Grant Wrangler
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Researcher's 3-D Digital Storage System Could Hold A Library On One Disc
Imagine taking the entire collection of historical documents at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and storing it on a single DVD.
University of Central Florida Chemistry Professor Kevin D. Belfield and his team have cracked a puzzle that stumped scientists for more than a dozen years. They have developed a new technology that will allow users to record and store massive amounts of data -- the museum's entire collection or as many as 500 movies, for example -- onto a single disc or, perhaps, a small cube.
Belfield's Two-Photon 3-D Optical Data Storage system makes this possible.
"For a while, the community has been able to record data in photochromic materials in several layers," Belfield said. "The problem was that no one could figure out how to read out the data without destroying it. But we cracked it."
Think of it this way. Television viewers can tape a show on a VHS tape.
They can use the tape several times. But each time the same segment of the tape is used, the quality diminishes as the tape wears out. Eventually, the data is lost. The same is true of recordable DVDs.
Belfield's team figured out a way to use lasers to compact large amounts of information onto a DVD while maintaining excellent quality. The information is stored permanently without the possibility of damage.
The process involves shooting two different wavelengths of light onto the recording surface. The use of two lasers creates a very specific image that is sharper than what current techniques can render. Depending on the color (wavelength) of the light, information is written onto a disk. The information is highly compacted, so the disk isn't much thicker. It's like a typical DVD.
CLICK HERE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061209091727.htm
Thank you to David P. Dillard, Ed Tech Listserv, December 11, 2006
