5D optical data storage

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

Computer memory types

Volatile
RAM

* DRAM
* SDRAM
* DDR
* GDDR
* HBM
* SRAM

Historical

* Williams–Kilburn tube (1946–47)
* Delay line memory (1947)
* Mellon optical memory (1951)
* Selectron tube (1952)
* Dekatron
* T-RAM (2009)
* Z-RAM (2002–2010)

Non-volatile
ROM

* Mask ROM
* PROM
* EPROM
* EEPROM
* Flash memory

NVRAM

* ReRAM

Early stage NVRAM

* FeRAM
* MRAM
* PCM (3D XPoint)
* FeFET memory

Magnetic

* Magnetic tape data storage (Linear Tape-Open)
* Hard disk drive

Optical

* Optical disc
* 5D optical data storage

In development

* CBRAM
* Racetrack memory
* NRAM
* Millipede memory
* FJG RAM

Historical

* Paper data storage (1725)
* Drum memory (1932)
* Magnetic-core memory (1949)
* Plated wire memory (1957)
* Core rope memory (1960s)
* Thin-film memory (1962)
* Disk pack (1962)
* Twistor memory (~1968)
* Bubble memory (~1970)
* Floppy disk (1971)

* v
* t
* e

5D optical data storage is an experimental nanostructured glass for permanently recording digital data using a femtosecond laser writing process.[1] It is also branded Superman memory crystal, in reference to the Kryptonian memory crystals from the Superman franchise.[2] Discs using this technology could be capable of storing up to 360 terabytes worth of data[3][4] (at the largest size, 12 cm discs) for billions of years.[5][6][7][8] The technology was developed by University of Southampton professor Peter Kazansky and experimentally demonstrated the technology in 2013.[9][10][11] 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.[12][13]

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.[3]

## Contents

* 1 Technical design
* 2 Development
* 3 Uses
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## 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.[2][14][15] 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.[2]

According to the University of Southampton:

“  | 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.[16] | ”

|
|

Recorded data can be read with a combination of an optical microscope and a polarizer.[17]

The technique was first demonstrated in 2009 by researchers at the Swinburne University of Technology[18] and in 2010 by Kazuyuki Hirao's laboratory at the Kyoto University,[19] and developed further by Peter Kazansky's research group at the Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton.[20][21][22][23] Discs recorded from that time have been tested for 3,100 hours at 100°C and shown to still work "perfectly" ten years later.[24]

## 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.[9][10][11] 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.[25][26][27]

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.[28][29][30]

## 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.[31]

In 2024, Kazansky's group encoded the three billion character human genome and etched it onto a coin-sized 5D disc.[32] 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.[32]

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.[33]

## See also

* Physics:3D optical data storage
* Holographic data storage - Data storage technology
* Data store - Repository for data collection storage and management
* Biology:DNA digital data storage - Process of encoding and decoding binary data to and from synthesized strands of DNA

## References

1. ↑ ""Cristais de memória do Superman" armazenam até 360 TB por 1 milhão de anos". Terra. November 11, 2013. http://tecnologia.terra.com.br/hardware-e-software/cristais-de-memoria-do-superman-armazenam-ate-360tb-por-1-milhao-de-anos,109bf9aa1d742410VgnVCM4000009bcceb0aRCRD.html.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kazansky, P. (11 March 2016). "Eternal 5D data storage via ultrafast-laser writing in glass". SPIE Newsroom. http://spie.org/newsroom/technical-articles/6365-eternal-5d-data-storage-via-ultrafast-laser-writing-in-glass.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Eternal 5D data storage could record the history of humankind". University of Southampton. 18 February 2016. http://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2016/02/5d-data-storage-update.page.
4. ↑ Huebler, Kevin (20 February 2016). "Superman memory crystal lets you store 360 TB worth of data". CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/20/superman-memory-crystal-lets-you-store-360tb-worth-of-data.html.
5. ↑ "5D nanostructured quartz glass optical memory could provide 'unlimited' data storage for a million years". kurzweilai.net. 10 July 2013. http://www.kurzweilai.net/5d-nanostructured-quartz-glass-optical-memory-could-provide-unlimited-data-storage-for-a-million-years.
6. ↑ Borghino, Dario (11 July 2013). ""Superman memory crystal" could store hundreds of terabytes indefinitely". New Atlas. http://www.gizmag.com/superman-memory-crystal/28231/.
7. ↑ Mullen, Jethro (17 February 2016). "New 'Superman' crystals can store data for billions of years". CNN-Tech. https://money.cnn.com/2016/02/17/technology/5d-data-storage-memory-crystals/.
8. ↑ Kazansky, Peter (11 March 2016). "Nanostructures in glass will store data for billions of years". SPIE Newsroom. http://spie.org/newsroom/technical-articles/videos/kazansky-video.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "5D 'Superman memory' crystal could lead to unlimited lifetime data storage". University of Southampton. 9 July 2013. http://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/5dopticalstore.html.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Zhang, Jingyu; Gecevičius, Mindaugas; Beresna, Martynas; Kazansky, Peter G. (2013). "5D Data Storage by Ultrafast Laser Nanostructuring in Glass". CLEO: 2013 Postdeadline. doi:10.1364/CLEO_SI.2013.CTh5D.9. ISBN 978-1-55752-973-2. http://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/fileadmin/downloads/5D_Data_Storage_by_Ultrafast_Laser_Nanostructuring_in_Glass.pdf.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "New nanostructured glass for imaging and recording developed". Phys.org. 15 August 2011. http://phys.org/news/2011-08-nanostructured-glass-imaging.html.
12. ↑ "Project Silica". Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/project-silica/.
13. ↑ Welch, Chris (27 September 2012). "Hitachi invents quartz glass storage capable of preserving data for millions of years". https://www.theverge.com/2012/9/27/3417918/hitachi-quartz-glass-data-preservation.
14. ↑ Glezer, E. N.; Milosavljevic, M.; Huang, L.; Finlay, R. J.; Her, T.-H.; Callan, J. P.; Mazur, E. (1996). "Three-dimensional optical storage inside transparent materials". Optics Letters 21 (24): 2023–2025. doi:10.1364/OL.21.002023. ISSN 0146-9592. PMID 19881880. Bibcode: 1996OptL...21.2023G.
15. ↑ Watanabe, Mitsuru; Juodkazis, Saulius; Sun, Hong-Bo; Matsuo, Shigeki; Misawa, Hiroaki; Miwa, Masafumi; Kaneko, Reizo (1999). "Transmission and photoluminescence images of three-dimensional memory in vitreous silica". Applied Physics Letters 74 (26): 3957–3959. doi:10.1063/1.124235. ISSN 0003-6951. Bibcode: 1999ApPhL..74.3957W.
16. ↑ Youngblood, Tim (20 February 2016). "5D Data Storage, How Does it Work and When Can We Use it?" (in en). All About Circuits. https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/5d-data-storage-how-does-it-work-and-when-can-we-use-it/.
17. ↑ "Optical 'Superman' memory flies with orbiting Tesla". February 7, 2018. http://optics.org/news/9/2/10.
18. ↑ Zijlstra, Peter; Chon, James W. M.; Gu, Min (May 2009). "Five-dimensional optical recording mediated by surface plasmons in gold nanorods" (in en). Nature 459 (7245): 410–413. doi:10.1038/nature08053. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 19458719. Bibcode: 2009Natur.459..410Z.
19. ↑ Shimotsuma, Yasuhiko; Sakakura, Masaaki; Kazansky, Peter G.; Beresna, Martynas; Qiu, Jiarong; Miura, Kiyotaka; Hirao, Kazuyuki (2010). "Ultrafast Manipulation of Self-Assembled Form Birefringence in Glass". Advanced Materials 22 (36): 4039–4043. doi:10.1002/adma.201000921. ISSN 0935-9648. PMID 20734374. Bibcode: 2010AdM....22.4039S.
20. ↑ Beresna, Martynas; Gecevičius, Mindaugas; Kazansky, Peter G.; Taylor, Thomas; Kavokin, Alexey V. (2012). "Exciton mediated self-organization in glass driven by ultrashort light pulses". Applied Physics Letters 101 (5): 053120. doi:10.1063/1.4742899. ISSN 0003-6951. Bibcode: 2012ApPhL.101e3120B. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/350050/1/5670.pdf.
21. ↑ Zhang, Jingyu; Gecevičius, Mindaugas; Beresna, Martynas; Kazansky, Peter G. (2014). "Seemingly Unlimited Lifetime Data Storage in Nanostructured Glass". Physical Review Letters 112 (3). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.033901. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 24484138. Bibcode: 2014PhRvL.112c3901Z.
22. ↑ Kazansky, Peter; Cerkauskaite, Ausra; Drevinskas, Rokas (June 2016). "Optical memory enters 5D realm". http://live.iop-pp01.agh.sleek.net/2016/05/19/optical-memory-enters-5d-realm/.
23. ↑ Zhang, J.; Čerkauskaitė, A.; Drevinskas, R.; Patel, A.; Beresna, M.; Kazansky, P. G.; Patel, A.; Beresna, M. et al. (2016-03-04). "Eternal 5D data storage by ultrafast laser writing in glass". in Klotzbach, Udo; Washio, Kunihiko; Arnold, Craig B.. Laser-based Micro- and Nanoprocessing X. Proceedings of SPIE. 9736. pp. 97360U. doi:10.1117/12.2220600. http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?doi=10.1117/12.2220600.
24. ↑ Park, Chang-Hyun; Petit, Yannick (2020-11-24). "Five-Dimensional Optical Data Storage Based on Ellipse Orientation and Fluorescence Intensity in a Silver-Sensitized Commercial Glass". Micromachines 11 (12): 1026. doi:10.3390/mi11121026. PMID 33255189.
25. ↑ Trueman, Charlotte (November 26, 2025). "Optical data storage company SPhotonix raises $4.5m". https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/optical-data-storage-company-sphotonix-raises-45m/.
26. ↑ Thubron, Rob (2025-12-15). "This 5D "memory crystal" glass storage could preserve data for 13.8 billion years" (in en-US). https://www.techspot.com/news/110598-5d-memory-crystals-glass-storage-could-preserve-data.html.
27. ↑ Baggiony-Taylor, Megan (2025-12-08). "SPhotonix Brings 5D Optical Storage to Space Data Centres" (in en). https://datacentremagazine.com/news/sphotonix-brings-5d-optical-storage-to-space-data-centres.
28. ↑ Leprince-Ringuet, Daphne (November 5, 2019). "Microsoft: Here's why we just stored the whole Superman movie inside a bit of glass". https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-heres-why-we-just-stored-the-whole-superman-movie-inside-a-bit-of-glass/.
29. ↑ Lee, Gayoung (2026-02-18). "Microsoft's Glass Chip Holds Terabytes of Data for 10,000 Years". https://gizmodo.com/microsofts-glass-chip-holds-terabytes-of-data-for-10000-years-2000723455.
30. ↑ Clarke, Laurie (2026-02-24). "'It seemed to defy the laws of physics': The everlasting 'memory crystals' that could slash data centre emissions". https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260223-the-everlasting-memory-crystals-that-could-slash-data-centre-emissions.
31. ↑ Szondy, David (February 13, 2018). "Tesla Roadster carries Asimov sci-fi classic to the stars". New Atlas. https://newatlas.com/tesla-roadster-asimov-foundation-trilogy-arch-library/53364/.
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Human genome stored on 'everlasting' memory crystal". University of Southampton. September 2024. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2024/09/human-genome-stored-on-everlasting-memory-crystal-.page.
33. ↑ "Heroes of Might and Magic 2, Heroes Chronicles, and a legendary crystal!" (in en-US). 2025-07-24. https://www.gog.com/en/news/heroes_of_might_and_magic_2_heroes_chronicles_and_a_legendary_crystal.

## External links

* Marketing website of the Southampton research team

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