Holographic-memory discs launched next year

InPhase Technologies, based in Colorado, has developed a commercially viable version of a holographic disc which can hold 300 gigabytes of data and can be used to read and write data 10 times faster than a normal DVD.

InPhase Technologies spokesperson Liz Murphy said that unlike other technologies that record one data bit at a time, holography allows a million bits of data to be written and read in parallel with a single flash of light. This enables transfer rates significantly higher than current optical storage device.

The discs, are 13 centimetres across and a little wider than normal DVDs. They store data in a light-sensitive crystal material using the interference of laser light. A single light beam is split and passed through a semi-transparent material. This acts like a filter, changing different parts of the beam to encode bits of information.

The altered beam and the reference beam are then recombined in the light-sensitive material and their pattern of interference provides a record of the encoded information.

More in the New Scientist, here. µ