Technology that could see a single DVD hold more than 2000 films has been unveiled by scientists. So-called five dimension data storage uses nanotechnology and can boost the storage potential of standard format DVDs by almost 10,000 times.
The latest development has come from a team of researchers from the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia.
"We were able to show how nanostructured material can be incorporated onto a disc in order to increase data capacity, without increasing the physical size of the disc," the research leader, Min Gu, told.
Currently, DVDs have three data storage dimensions.
However, using nanorods made of gold, the Melbourne-based team were able to add two more - one based on the colour spectrum and the other on polarisation.
The breakthrough has meant it is now possible to record information in a range of different wavelengths at the same place on the disc.
Current DVDs record in a single wavelength, using a laser.
The relevant process is called polarisation, where nanoparticles react to light depending on their shape.
And the introduction of the new gold nanorods has meant this process can now be manipulated.
"The polarisation can be rotated 360 degrees," explained the co-author of the research, James Chon.
"We were, for example, able to record at zero degree polarisation.
"Then, on top of that, we are able to record another layer of information at 90 degrees polarisation, without them interfering with each other."
The team are still working on reducing the speed at which the discs can be written and commercial production is at least five years away.
Nonetheless, they have signed an agreement with Korea-based electronics giant Samsung.
The news comes soon after one of the largest US-based technology companies, General Electric, said it had developed a holographic disc capable of storing the equivalent of 100 standard DVDs.
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