The Hyper CD-ROM is a claimed optical data storage device similar to the CD-ROM with a multilayer 3D structure, invented by Romanian scientist Eugen Pavel.
The technology is supposedly similar to FMD discs. The bit of data being held as a change in fluorescence characteristics once irradiated with one or two lasers. The target is irradiated with a pulse of laser(s) then a CCD or photodiode wait for an emitted light by the medium due to the Fluorescence effect (bit value set to "1" if emitted, else "0").
Characteristics
The reported storage capacity of one such disk is 1 000 000 GB (1 PB), as storage occurs on 2 000 different levels layered inside the glass body of the disk.
It claims to use fluorescent photosensitive material (glass enhanced with rare earth or vitroceramic enhanced with photosensitizing metals) as storage medium.
The Hyper CD-ROM technology is patented in 21 countries: the US, Canada, Japan, Israel and 17 European states.2
Despite its bold claims the technology has not been shown as a working prototype in the over twenty years since its announcement and there has been no commercial production.
In an interview about his work on the Hyper CD-ROM, Pavel stated that "the research for this project is 100% personal, [and] so is the support for experiments."3
External links
- Storex Technologies, the Company producing the disc.
- Press Release, about 1PB optical disc.
References
"Three-dimensional optical memory with fluorescent photosensitive material". Google patent. Pavel, Eugen. 29 November 2005. https://patents.google.com/patent/US6970414 ↩
"Hyper CD-ROM: Three Dimensional Optical Memory with Fluorescent Photosensitive Glass". Archived from the original on 21 July 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060721172215/http://www.dntb.ro/users/frdbuc/hyper-cdrom/hyper.htm ↩
"cdfreaks.com's translation of a Romanian article on the Hyper CD-ROM". Archived from the original on 23 May 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20070523195351/http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/10000-GB-can-be-stored-on-one-Hyper-CD-ROM.html ↩