Optical storage arrays: a perspective for future big data storage

Abstract

The advance of nanophotonics has provided a variety of avenues for light–matter interaction at the nanometer scale through the enriched mechanisms for physical and chemical reactions induced by nanometer-confined optical probes in nanocomposite materials. These emerging nanophotonic devices and materials have enabled researchers to develop disruptive methods of tremendously increasing the storage capacity of current optical memory. In this paper, we present a review of the recent advancements in nanophotonics-enabled optical storage techniques. Particularly, we offer our perspective of using them as optical storage arrays for next-generation exabyte data centers. The science and technology of nanophotonics can help dramatically increase the capacity of optical discs. After reviewing research into next-generation optical data storage, Min Gu, Xiangping Li and Yaoyu Cao from the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia have offered their perspective of the creation of exabyte-scale optical data centers. They report that developments in ’super-resolution recording‚, which allow a light-sensitive material to be exposed to a focal spot that is smaller than the diffraction limit of light, will allow the size of recorded bits to shrink to just a few nanometres in size. This would ultimately allow a single disk to store petabytes of data and thus constitute a key component in optical storage arrays for ultrahigh-capacity optical data centers.