Holographic Data Storage

Holographic Data Storage

Data storage and management fuels many aspects of the world's economy. The average company's data storage needs triple every 18 to 24 months and the worldwide data storage capacity has grown from 283,000 terabytes in 2000 to nearly 5 million terabytes by 2005. Couple that with the average person's data storage growth of 250 megabytes per year and the fact that 75% of all IT spending is for data storage, and you have one enormous data storage challenge.
From Mechanical to Chemical
Data storage today operates in essentially the same way it did when GE's co-founder Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877. The Edison phonograph used a diaphragm, which had an embossing point and was held against a rapidly-moving metal cylinder wrapped in tin foil. Today's CDs and DVDs use virtually the same mechanical technology. Only now, the pits and grooves are imprinted onto a polycarbonate material and are read with a laser. Advancements from CDs to DVDs to new blue laser optical formats have involved using shorter wavelength lasers to read smaller marks, thus increasing the amount of stored data. But that's all going to change.
To meet the exponential growth in data storage over the next 5 to 10 years, GE is abandoning the traditional two-dimensional "pits and grooves" mechanical approach and instead is working on 3D volumetric holographic storage technology using a chemical approach. By leveraging 50 years of polycarbonate research, GE scientists are developing specialized polycarbonate materials that chemically change when bombarded by a specific type of laser to "write" material onto the "disc." Another laser is able to "read" those chemical changes in the material to retrieve the data that has been stored. The major benefit of this approach is being able to use the entire volume of the material instead of being limited only to the visible surface area. If you would apply this new technology to a disc the size of a DVD, you could fit 200 times more data on a DVD. The other advantage is a huge increase in data retrieval speed through parallel reading schemes.
And while some of us just get excited about fitting the entire Star Wars epic on one DVD, there are many more possibilities with this new technology. Because surface area isn't a factor any more, there can be much more flexibility in media size and shape, enabling data storage for a range of new applications. Imagine the possibilities of checking into the hospital and having your entire medical history stored on a chip and embedded into the plastic ID tag on your wrist. It's closer than you think.
Holographic Data Storage Research Focus
This multidisciplinary effort leverages expertise at GE Global Research in polymer chemistry, materials science, physics, optics and electrical engineering for the following key focus area

New Material Design
Leverage high performance GE plastics and add molecules to enable 3D storage.
3D Storage Systems
Understanding material interaction within the system and developing the optical systems architecture.
Electro Optics
Exploring how optical technologies can improve future GE products.

GE Global Reach