thumb|Some examples for 5D optical data storage discs. The blared areas are the actual zone of the data volume. {{short description|Computer memory type used for data preservation}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Memory types}}
'''5D optical data storage''' is an experimental nanostructured glass for permanently recording digital data using a femtosecond laser writing process.<ref name="Terra">{{cite web|url=http://tecnologia.terra.com.br/hardware-e-software/cristais-de-memoria-do-superman-armazenam-ate-360tb-por-1-milhao-de-anos,109bf9aa1d742410VgnVCM4000009bcceb0aRCRD.html|title="Cristais de memória do Superman" armazenam até 360 TB por 1 milhão de anos|date=November 11, 2013|publisher=Terra|access-date=1 March 2016}}</ref> It is also branded '''Superman memory crystal''', in reference to the Kryptonian memory crystals from the Superman franchise.<ref name=spexp>{{cite news|last1=Kazansky|first1=P.|title=Eternal 5D data storage via ultrafast-laser writing in glass|url=http://spie.org/newsroom/technical-articles/6365-eternal-5d-data-storage-via-ultrafast-laser-writing-in-glass|publisher=SPIE Newsroom|date=11 March 2016|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Discs using this technology could be capable of storing up to {{nowrap|360 terabytes}} worth of data<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=http://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2016/02/5d-data-storage-update.page |title=Eternal 5D data storage could record the history of humankind |publisher=University of Southampton |date=18 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/20/superman-memory-crystal-lets-you-store-360tb-worth-of-data.html |title=Superman memory crystal lets you store 360 TB worth of data |first=Kevin |last=Huebler |work=CNBC |date=20 February 2016}}</ref> (at the largest size, 12 cm discs) for billions of years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kurzweilai.net/5d-nanostructured-quartz-glass-optical-memory-could-provide-unlimited-data-storage-for-a-million-years |title=5D nanostructured quartz glass optical memory could provide 'unlimited' data storage for a million years |date=10 July 2013 |publisher=kurzweilai.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.gizmag.com/superman-memory-crystal/28231/ |title="Superman memory crystal" could store hundreds of terabytes indefinitely |first=Dario |last=Borghino |date=11 July 2013 |work=New Atlas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/02/17/technology/5d-data-storage-memory-crystals/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160218093403/http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/17/technology/5d-data-storage-memory-crystals/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 February 2016 |title=New 'Superman' crystals can store data for billions of years |first=Jethro |last=Mullen |work=CNN-Tech |date=17 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Kazansky|first1=Peter |date=11 March 2016 |title=Nanostructures in glass will store data for billions of years|url=http://spie.org/newsroom/technical-articles/videos/kazansky-video|publisher=SPIE Newsroom|access-date=11 March 2016}}</ref> The technology was developed by University of Southampton professor Peter Kazansky and experimentally demonstrated the technology in 2013.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/5dopticalstore.html |title=5D 'Superman memory' crystal could lead to unlimited lifetime data storage |date=9 July 2013 |publisher=University of Southampton}}</ref><ref name="ZhangGecevičius2013">{{cite book|last1=Zhang|first1=Jingyu|last2=Gecevičius|first2=Mindaugas|last3=Beresna|first3=Martynas|last4=Kazansky|first4=Peter G.|title=CLEO: 2013 Postdeadline|chapter=5D Data Storage by Ultrafast Laser Nanostructuring in Glass|year=2013|article-number=CTh5D.9|doi=10.1364/CLEO_SI.2013.CTh5D.9 |isbn=978-1-55752-973-2|url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/364916/1/5973.pdf|chapter-url=http://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/fileadmin/downloads/5D_Data_Storage_by_Ultrafast_Laser_Nanostructuring_in_Glass.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906152109/http://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/fileadmin/downloads/5D_Data_Storage_by_Ultrafast_Laser_Nanostructuring_in_Glass.pdf |archive-date=2014-09-06}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |url=http://phys.org/news/2011-08-nanostructured-glass-imaging.html |title=New nanostructured glass for imaging and recording developed |publisher=Phys.org |date=15 August 2011}}</ref> The technology has been commercialized by SPhotonix, which markets it under the name 5D Memory Crystal. Hitachi and Microsoft have researched glass-based optical storage techniques, the latter under the name '''Project Silica'''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/project-silica/|title=Project Silica |publisher=Microsoft}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/9/27/3417918/hitachi-quartz-glass-data-preservation|title=Hitachi invents quartz glass storage capable of preserving data for millions of years|first=Chris|last=Welch|date=27 September 2012|website=The Verge}}</ref>
The "5-dimensional" descriptor is because, unlike marking only on the surface of a 2D piece of paper or magnetic tape, this method of encoding uses two optical dimensions and three spatial co-ordinates to write throughout the material, which suggested the name '5D data crystal'. No exotic higher dimensional properties are involved. The size, orientation and three-dimensional position of the nanostructures comprise the so-called five dimensions.<ref name=":0" />
== Technical design == The concept is to store data optically in non-photosensitive transparent materials such as fused quartz, which has high chemical stability. Recording data using a femtosecond-laser was first proposed and demonstrated in 1996.<ref name=spexp /><ref name="GlezerMilosavljevic1996">{{Cite journal |last1=Glezer |first1=E. N. |last2=Milosavljevic |first2=M. |last3=Huang |first3=L. |last4=Finlay |first4=R. J. |last5=Her |first5=T.-H. |last6=Callan |first6=J. P. |last7=Mazur |first7=E. |year=1996 |title=Three-dimensional optical storage inside transparent materials |journal=Optics Letters |volume=21 |issue=24 |pages=2023–2025 |bibcode=1996OptL...21.2023G |doi=10.1364/OL.21.002023 |issn=0146-9592 |pmid=19881880}}</ref><ref name="WatanabeJuodkazis1999">{{Cite journal |last1=Watanabe |first1=Mitsuru |last2=Juodkazis |first2=Saulius |last3=Sun |first3=Hong-Bo |last4=Matsuo |first4=Shigeki |last5=Misawa |first5=Hiroaki |last6=Miwa |first6=Masafumi |last7=Kaneko |first7=Reizo |year=1999 |title=Transmission and photoluminescence images of three-dimensional memory in vitreous silica |journal=Applied Physics Letters |volume=74 |issue=26 |pages=3957–3959 |bibcode=1999ApPhL..74.3957W |doi=10.1063/1.124235 |issn=0003-6951}}</ref> The storage medium consists of fused quartz, where the spatial dimensions, intensity, polarization, and wavelength are used to modulate data. By introducing gold or silver nanoparticles embedded in the material, their plasmonic properties can be exploited.<ref name=spexp />
According to the University of Southampton:
{{Cquote|The 5-dimensional discs [have] tiny patterns printed on 3 layers within the discs. Depending on the angle they are viewed from, these patterns can look completely different. This may sound like science fiction, but it's basically a really fancy optical illusion. In this case, the 5 dimensions inside of the discs are the size and orientation in relation to the 3-dimensional position of the nanostructures. The concept of being 5-dimensional means that one disc has several different images depending on the angle that one views it from, and the magnification of the microscope used to view it. Basically, each disc has multiple layers of micro and macro level images.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Youngblood |first=Tim |date=20 February 2016 |title=5D Data Storage, How Does it Work and When Can We Use it? |url=https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/5d-data-storage-how-does-it-work-and-when-can-we-use-it/ |access-date=2 September 2019 |publisher=All About Circuits |language=en}}</ref>}}
Recorded data can be read with a combination of an optical microscope and a polarizer.<ref name="optics">{{Cite web |date=February 7, 2018 |title=Optical 'Superman' memory flies with orbiting Tesla |url=http://optics.org/news/9/2/10 |access-date=February 17, 2018 |website=Optics}}</ref>
The technique was first demonstrated in 2009 by researchers at the Swinburne University of Technology<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zijlstra |first1=Peter |last2=Chon |first2=James W. M. |last3=Gu |first3=Min |date=May 2009 |title=Five-dimensional optical recording mediated by surface plasmons in gold nanorods |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=459 |issue=7245 |pages=410–413 |doi=10.1038/nature08053 |pmid=19458719 |bibcode=2009Natur.459..410Z |issn=0028-0836}}</ref> and in 2010 by Kazuyuki Hirao's laboratory at the Kyoto University,<ref name="ShimotsumaSakakura2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Shimotsuma |first1=Yasuhiko |last2=Sakakura |first2=Masaaki |last3=Kazansky |first3=Peter G. |last4=Beresna |first4=Martynas |last5=Qiu |first5=Jiarong |last6=Miura |first6=Kiyotaka |last7=Hirao |first7=Kazuyuki |year=2010 |title=Ultrafast Manipulation of Self-Assembled Form Birefringence in Glass |journal=Advanced Materials |volume=22 |issue=36 |pages=4039–4043 |bibcode=2010AdM....22.4039S |doi=10.1002/adma.201000921 |issn=0935-9648 |pmid=20734374 |s2cid=205237009 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and developed further by Peter Kazansky's research group at the Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton.<ref name="BeresnaGecevičius2012">{{Cite journal |last1=Beresna |first1=Martynas |last2=Gecevičius |first2=Mindaugas |last3=Kazansky |first3=Peter G. |last4=Taylor |first4=Thomas |last5=Kavokin |first5=Alexey V. |year=2012 |title=Exciton mediated self-organization in glass driven by ultrashort light pulses |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/350050/1/5670.pdf |journal=Applied Physics Letters |volume=101 |issue=5 |page=053120 |bibcode=2012ApPhL.101e3120B |doi=10.1063/1.4742899 |issn=0003-6951}}</ref><ref name="ZhangGecevičius2014">{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Jingyu |last2=Gecevičius |first2=Mindaugas |last3=Beresna |first3=Martynas |last4=Kazansky |first4=Peter G. |year=2014 |title=Seemingly Unlimited Lifetime Data Storage in Nanostructured Glass |journal=Physical Review Letters |volume=112 |issue=3 |article-number=033901 |bibcode=2014PhRvL.112c3901Z |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.033901 |issn=0031-9007 |pmid=24484138 |s2cid=27040597}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kazansky |first1=Peter |last2=Cerkauskaite |first2=Ausra |last3=Drevinskas |first3=Rokas |date=June 2016 |title=Optical memory enters 5D realm |url=http://live.iop-pp01.agh.sleek.net/2016/05/19/optical-memory-enters-5d-realm/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322143350/http://live.iop-pp01.agh.sleek.net/2016/05/19/optical-memory-enters-5d-realm/ |archive-date=22 March 2019 |access-date=5 February 2018 |website=Physics World}}</ref><ref name="KlotzbachWashio2016">{{Cite book |last1=Zhang |first1=J. |last2=Čerkauskaitė |first2=A. |last3=Drevinskas |first3=R. |last4=Patel |first4=A. |last5=Beresna |first5=M. |last6=Kazansky |first6=P. G. |last7=Patel |first7=A. |last8=Beresna |first8=M. |last9=Kazansky |first9=P. G. |chapter=Eternal 5D data storage by ultrafast laser writing in glass |date=2016-03-04 |editor-last=Klotzbach |editor-first=Udo |editor2-last=Washio |editor2-first=Kunihiko |editor3-last=Arnold |editor3-first=Craig B. |volume=9736 |pages=97360U |doi=10.1117/12.2220600 |issn=0277-786X |title=Laser-based Micro- and Nanoprocessing X |chapter-url=http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?doi=10.1117/12.2220600 |series=Proceedings of SPIE |s2cid=123893150}}</ref> Discs recorded from that time have been tested for 3,100 hours at 100°C and shown to still work "perfectly" ten years later.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Park |first1=Chang-Hyun |last2=Petit |first2=Yannick |date=2020-11-24 |title=Five-Dimensional Optical Data Storage Based on Ellipse Orientation and Fluorescence Intensity in a Silver-Sensitized Commercial Glass |journal=Micromachines |volume=11 |issue=12 |page=1026 |doi=10.3390/mi11121026 |pmc=7760589 |pmid=33255189 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
== Development == 5D optical data storage was developed by Peter Kazansky, professor at the Optoelectronics Research Centre of the University of Southampton. The research group experimentally demonstrated the feasibility of the technology in 2013.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="ZhangGecevičius2013" /><ref name=":2" /> The work built upon earlier studies in femtosecond-laser inscription in transparent materials conducted in the 1990s and 2000s.
The technology has been commercialized by SPhotonix, which markets it under the name 5D Memory Crystal. The laser inscription process is known as FemtoEtch.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trueman |first=Charlotte |date=November 26, 2025 |title=Optical data storage company SPhotonix raises $4.5m |url=https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/optical-data-storage-company-sphotonix-raises-45m/ |access-date=2026-06-01 |website=datacenterdynamics.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thubron |first=Rob |date=2025-12-15 |title=This 5D "memory crystal" glass storage could preserve data for 13.8 billion years |url=https://www.techspot.com/news/110598-5d-memory-crystals-glass-storage-could-preserve-data.html |access-date=2026-06-01 |website=TechSpot |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Baggiony-Taylor |first=Megan |date=2025-12-08 |title=SPhotonix Brings 5D Optical Storage to Space Data Centres |url=https://datacentremagazine.com/news/sphotonix-brings-5d-optical-storage-to-space-data-centres |access-date=2026-06-01 |website=datacentremagazine.com |language=en}}</ref>
Other organizations have investigated related glass-based optical storage methods, including Hitachi and Microsoft. In 2016, Microsoft Research Cambridge partnered with the University of Southampton to launch Project Silica, a research initiative aimed at scaling 5D storage for cloud archival applications. Kazansky served as the Southampton Principal Investigator. In 2019, the project successfully encoded and retrieved the 1978 film Superman on silica glass.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leprince-Ringuet |first=Daphne |date=November 5, 2019 |title=Microsoft: Here's why we just stored the whole Superman movie inside a bit of glass |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-heres-why-we-just-stored-the-whole-superman-movie-inside-a-bit-of-glass/ |access-date=2026-06-01 |website=ZDNET}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Gayoung |date=2026-02-18 |title=Microsoft's Glass Chip Holds Terabytes of Data for 10,000 Years |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsofts-glass-chip-holds-terabytes-of-data-for-10000-years-2000723455 |access-date=2026-06-01 |website=Gizmodo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Laurie |date=2026-02-24 |title='It seemed to defy the laws of physics': The everlasting 'memory crystals' that could slash data centre emissions |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260223-the-everlasting-memory-crystals-that-could-slash-data-centre-emissions |access-date=2026-06-01 |website=www.bbc.com}}</ref>
== Uses ==
In 2018, Professor Peter Kazansky used the technology to store a copy of Isaac Asimov's ''Foundation'' trilogy, which was launched into space aboard Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster in association with the Arch Mission Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://newatlas.com/tesla-roadster-asimov-foundation-trilogy-arch-library/53364/ |title=Tesla Roadster carries Asimov sci-fi classic to the stars |work=New Atlas |first=David |last=Szondy |date=February 13, 2018 |access-date=February 13, 2018}}</ref>
In 2024, Kazansky's group encoded the three billion character human genome and etched it onto a coin-sized<!--See photo in source --> 5D disc.<ref name="Genome" /> It includes a visual key explaining how to use it, in homage to the Pioneer plaques that were placed on board the 1972 ''Pioneer 10'' and 1973 ''Pioneer 11'' spacecrafts. They stored it in the Memory of Mankind archive, located in the world's oldest salt mine in Hallstatt, Austria.<ref name="Genome">{{cite web |title=Human genome stored on 'everlasting' memory crystal |work=University of Southampton |date=September 2024 |access-date=2024-09-19 |url=https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2024/09/human-genome-stored-on-everlasting-memory-crystal-.page}}</ref>
In July 2025 Good Old Games, in collaboration with SPhotonix, encoded ''Heroes of Might and Magic III'' on the 5D crystal. It became the first video game ever preserved with this technology.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-24 |title=Heroes of Might and Magic 2, Heroes Chronicles, and a legendary crystal! |url=https://www.gog.com/en/news/heroes_of_might_and_magic_2_heroes_chronicles_and_a_legendary_crystal |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=GOG.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
== See also == * {{annotated link|3D optical data storage}} * {{annotated link|Holographic data storage}} * {{annotated link|Silica glass}} * {{annotated link|Data store}} * {{annotated link|DNA digital data storage}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.5dmemorycrystal.com/ Marketing website of the Southampton research team]
Category:Big data Category:Nanotechnology Category:Solid-state computer storage media Category:Non-volatile memory Category:Digital preservation Category:Quartz