Microsoft has unveiled an ambitious initiative called Project Silica, which utilizes advanced femtosecond lasers to encode data directly into glass. This creative technique could change the way we store data forever. It guarantees durability and longevity that exceeds beyond the conventional.
Project Silica uses two different kinds of voxels—phase voxels and birefringent voxels. Each one is about 0.5 micrometers, with about 6 micrometers between voxels. This simple encoding method greatly increases data density. This cutting-edge technology allows the storage of a staggering 4.84 terabytes of data in a single glass chip no larger than 12 square centimeters and just 2 millimeters deep. To just give a little bit of context, picture having something like 2 million printed books available to you. That’s the same data as in nearly 5,000 ultra-high-definition 4K movies!
This technology allows for truly awe-inspiring, very fast data writing speeds. The only limitation is the power of the femtosecond laser. According to Microsoft, Project Silica is able to write at extraordinary speeds. It can transmit up to 25.6 megabits per second with a single laser beam alone. At such high-power laser pulses, lasting only quadrillionths of a second, the data can be encoded much faster without losing accuracy or integrity.
Richard Black, research director for Project Silica. He finds many promising use cases to this new technology that can help break the bottleneck our traditional electronic data storage has imposed. He highlights that one of the main objectives of the project is to provide a long-term alternative. That’s an important step as the amount of data is predicted to explode to 394 zettabytes by 2028.
Black was especially excited about the long-term viability of data stored with Project Silica. He argues that data stored on glass plates may remain legible and interpretable after 10,000 years. This durability persists even when subjected to extreme temperatures up to 290 °C. Even at room temperature, the durability of the archived information is predicted to be well beyond this timespan.
“It’s designed for data you want to write once and preserve for a very long time.” – Richard Black
The key to Project Silica’s high density and durability all starts with the unique properties of glass. When not at elevated temperatures, glass acts as a solid, stopping any significant flow over long timeframes. This built-in balance is what makes the material so durable. As such, it makes a strong case for use in cloud archives where data is only written once and stored forever.
“At room temperature, glass is effectively a solid and does not flow on any meaningful timescale.” – Richard Black
Additionally, we would be remiss not to mention Black’s assertion that this technology greatly exacerbates the amount of power required from the laser to write data. More importantly, it removes the physical demands of travel-roll-repeat time-consuming cycles between places of writing, encoding quicker while conserving energy.
“This significantly reduces the power required from the laser to store data, and 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.” – Richard Black
Digital storage requirements are growing exponentially. Microsoft’s Project Silica provides such an alternative, one that could drastically change the way that we preserve data for generations to come. Storing massive amounts of data in a permanent format such as glass meets the challenges of the present day. It acts as a far-sighted solution to future archival needs.