Scientists push optical storage to new limits with 500GB glass tablets promising massive archival capacity for future data needs | Daily Reports Online
- Optera uses photoluminescence instead of lasers for long-term optical storage solutions
- Spectral hole burning encodes data by manipulating nanoscale phosphor lattice imperfections
- Multi-bit encoding allows several bits to be stored per physical location on the medium
Dr Nicolas Riesen at the University of South Australia is leading the development of an optical storage archive that records data through photoluminescence instead of physical laser etching.
The technology operates at room temperature and uses relatively low-cost lasers instead of the femtosecond systems used in some competing glass-based archives.
The initial implementation of this archive is a 500GB proof-of-concept medium planned for 2026, and it represents the first step toward higher-capacity glass-based storage.
From discs to glass tablets
An earlier related technology developed by Dr Nicolas Riesen explored spectral hole–based optical storage using different nanoparticle materials.
This work provides the foundation for the current 500GB glass tablet proof of concept, showing a progression from disc-focused experiments to higher-capacity archival formats.
Optera’s goal is to deliver long-term data retention with lower energy requirements, although the project remains experimental.
The recording medium used by Optera is based on a mixed halide fluorobromide or fluorochloride phosphor doped with divalent samarium ions.
This material, known as Ba₀.₅Sr₀.₅FX:Sm²⁺, has a long history in computed radiography imaging plates, where photostimulated luminescence is well understood.
In Optera’s system, nanoscale imperfections in the crystal lattice are deliberately controlled to change how the material emits light after exposure to specific laser wavelengths.
Data writing relies on spectral hole burning, where narrow wavelength bands are selectively altered within the phosphor.
When a laser scans these regions during readout, the material either emits photoluminescence or suppresses it.
The detected light signal, or the absence of one, represents stored digital information.
This method avoids physically reshaping the medium, but it introduces sensitivity to optical stability and read precision that independent testing has not yet confirmed.
Optera suggests it can raise storage density by encoding information through variations in light intensity instead of relying only on binary on or off states.
The project describes this approach as offering multi-bit capacity similar to NAND, with SLC, MLC, and TLC style bit levels represented by different signal intensities.
Moving this concept from laboratory measurements to repeatable, error-tolerant reads at scale remains an unresolved technical challenge.
According to project documentation by optical researcher Dr Nicolas Riesen, the proof-of-concept medium is expected to reach 1TB in 2027 and several terabytes by around 2030.
These targets serve as research milestones, with commercialization depending on manufacturing partners and cost feasibility.
Although the technology shows promise, several uncertainties remain.
Practical read and write speeds, long-term durability under repeated access, and real-world production costs are still unknown, leaving its viability beyond experimental research unresolved.
Via Blocks & Files
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