Hi All, I am happy to share an exciting breakthrough on GE’s Holographic Data Storage project. The research team has successfully demonstrated a micro-holographic material that can support data recording at the same speed as Blu-ray discs. This breakthrough brings the vision of storing the data of 20 Blu-ray or 100 DVD’s onto a single DVD size disc a step closer to reality.
Micro-Holographic data storage has promised to be a potential replacement technology in the area of high-capacity data storage currently dominated by magnetic and conventional optical data storage. Holographic data storage is a challenging technical problem at the interface of chemistry, materials processing, optics and electrical engineering, and there is no place better equipped to tackle such a multi-disciplinary technical problem than GE Global Research. Over the years, the team has made a series of critical inventions: threshold behavior demonstration in holographic materials in 2006, high reflectivity to enable the storage of up to 500 GB of data in a single CD-size disc in 2009 and recent demonstration of improved sensitivity to allow fast data recording speeds.
Commercial viability of a micro- holographic material hinges on two performance parameters – Hologram reflectivity and material sensitivity in addition to the ease of handling and processing into the disc form-factor. Hologram reflectivity represents how much data can be recorded and the material sensitivity characterizes how fast the data can be recorded into the material. The higher the sensitivity, the faster the recording speed. The latest breakthrough represents a 100x enhancement in material sensitivity, building upon the reflectivity performance demonstrated in 2009. With this breakthrough, the micro-holographic threshold material can support data recording at the same speed as Blu-ray discs which renders micro-holographic technology more poised than ever for success. Additionally, micro-holographic data storage provides data access and transfer rates greater than those attained by traditional optical storage formats. With higher recording speeds required in the professional archival industry, this latest breakthrough by GE researchers will also advance the company’s interests in commercializing GE’s micro-holographic technology. We are witnessing an exciting time in this technology and are privileged to be at the center of it all. Stay tuned!!!
