As we are in world of Quantum Computing, now we are capable of storing data in Magnetic Disk, SD Cards, Flash Drives, Hard Disk and even in DNA of our body. But recently scientists figured out how to store data in diamond. yes!
On 26th Oct,2016 , a paper was published in Science Advances shows how diamond can be harnessed to store large amount of data.Right now, a tiny diamond — about half as long as a grain of rice and thinner than a sheet of paper — can hold a hundred times more information than a DVD. This is not enough to store data as per growing demands but in near future it will be possible to store big data in diamond.
It starts with a tiny, atomic-sized imperfection known as a nitrogen vacancy center in your otherwise perfect diamond. These flaws occur when a stray nitrogen atom — or a few of them — sneak in among its carbon structure. Deleting a carbon atom near the nitrogen leaves an empty space perfect for stashing data.
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| Encoded image of Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrodinger on diamond. |
The researchers from City College of New York, used laser to encode and read data on these tiny voids, which they used as magnet that can repel or absorb electron.To encode simple grayscale images like a smiley face, Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger they added an electron by shining a green laser and took one away with a red laser. They read their data like a computer reads 0s and 1s, but instead of digits there was light, which indicated the presence or absence of electrons.
Storing the data in diamond is very different from storing data in the hard drives. The materials of hard drive degrade, and it'll dead after 5 to 10 years. But data in the diamond can be last as your diamond is.
Tech-critics says that this method can be very expensive to store the data. But according to researchers says that the industrial fabricated diamond(which costs about $150) was the cheapest thing in the experiment. Their experiment can work on any material with same flaw and flawed diamond. “The bigger the diamond, the more defects, the more places to put information,” said Mr. Jacob Henshaw, graduate student who work on the study.
But be careful while using diamond as your storage device, as when you expose diamond in sunlight it can cause data loss.
