Forget about Blu-ray, Fluo-ray discs may well be the future of optical data storage with 10TB capacities for $1

• New optical tech could slash archival costs by 10x or even more
• Optera Data’s discs could hit 10TB for just $1 - cheaper than tape!
• The low-power, high-density storage has data centers in mind

A team led by Dr. Nicolas Riesen at the University of South Australia has come up with a new optical storage technology that could potentially slash archival storage costs by a factor of ten, compared to current optical solutions.

As reported by Blocks & Files, this method relies on manipulating fluorescence in wavebands at specific recording areas, enabling multi-bit storage that’s similar to NAND flash technology.

The process involves selectively altering the fluorescence properties of nanoparticles within the recording medium, using laser energy to create "spectral holes" where the emission is reduced. This variation in light emission encodes data in multiple levels, potentially allowing for high-density storage. The nanoparticles, composed ...