Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia have come up with a new optical recording method that could allow a giant 1.6 terabytes of information – the equivalent of 300 DVDs – to fit on a single disc, according to Nature.
Their 5-D recording method uses nanometer-scale particles of gold as a recording medium and manipulates the light pointed at them.
How does it work? The nanoparticles record information in different color wavelengths, all in the same physical disc location. As the amount of incoming laser light absorbed by the nanoparticles depends on its polarization, this allows the researchers to record different layers of information at different angles to create the 5-D effect.
