Microsoft scientists are transforming the underlying technology for storing data. They’re doing this with femtosecond lasers to etch data into glass, having already made huge headway in their field. This pioneering research, which is a key aspect of the Microsoft Project Silica initiative, seeks to develop a durable data preservation solution. This one project is hugely important. The world has already created more than 64.2 zettabytes of amazing data and is projected to create 394 zettabytes of incredible data by 2028.
Microsoft femtosecond laser researchers used this technology to create effective data blasts a quadrillionth of a second long. They very convincingly recorded a whopping 4.84 terabytes of data in a 12-square-centimeter glass chip that’s only 2 millimeters thick. This compact storage medium can hold data equivalent to approximately 2 million printed books or around 5,000 ultra-high-definition 4K films.
The potential durability of the data stored on this tiny glass chip may be the most impressive part of the project. Scientific study has shown that the information would still be accessible after 10,000+ years under extreme conditions at 290 °C. Richard Black, research director for Microsoft Project Silica, notes that the data’s longevity likely improves with rising ambient temperature. He notes the huge untapped potential for longer-term storage.
“At room temperature glass is functionally a solid, and it doesn’t flow on any relevant geological timescale,” explained Black. This permanence is exactly what makes glass a perfect long-term data storage medium.
In the initial data encoding process, pixels are sliced in three dimensions to produce small, cube-shaped units called voxels. In this project, the researchers developed two types of voxels: phase voxels and birefringent voxels. Each voxel represents an average of 0.5 micrometers in size and the distance between adjacent voxels is roughly 6 micrometers. Since each voxel only requires a single high-precision laser pulse to write data, this significantly reduces the processing time. This feature allows Microsoft Project Silica to achieve a remarkable write speed of 25.6 megabits per second with a single beam alone.
“This significantly reduces the power required from the laser to store data,” Black explained. “It does not require the laser focus to alternate between staying in the same place to deliver multiple pulses and movement to the next location.”
Despite these advancements, challenges remain. Femtosecond lasers are presently expensive, which could serve as a bottleneck to the more widespread adoption of this technology. The possible uses are enormous, particularly for archival storage in which data needs to last centuries. Black noted that the technology is suited for “anywhere data must survive for centuries such as national libraries, scientific data, or cultural records.”
For archiving data, organizations continue to look for proven, durable solutions to store huge blocks of data in a cost-effective manner. Microsoft’s Project Silica provides a groundbreaking solution that addresses this need. The project’s focus on durability aligns with the growing need for innovative approaches to data preservation amid exponential data generation rates.