Optical disc could store information for millions of years

Jeroen De Vries, of the University of Twente, made the storage disk out of tungsten - a material which can withstand very high temperatures - and silicon nitride, which is highly resistant to fracture and deforms very little when exposed to high levels of heat. Inside the device, information is stored by etching QR codes in tungsten. Each pixel of the QR code contains a smaller QR code that in turn stores different information. An energy barrier that separates the information from the non-information is also included to ensure the stability of the data. In order to see how long data could be stored on the device, De Vries relied on the Arrhenius model, which simulates extended periods of time by exposing the device to extreme heat for a set number of time. The storage disk was heated to 200°C for one hour (which according to the model simulates one million years of usage), and showed no visible degradation. At around 440°C, the device only showed small signs of degradation, although the tungsten was still readable. Looking ahead, De Vries is hoping to carry out more tests to see whether the data carrier can withstand even higher temperatures, for example during a house fire. "If we can find a place that is very stable, such as a nuclear storage facility, then the disc itself and the data that is on it should be able to endure millions of years," he noted.