Researchers at Microsoft have investigated how glass can be used for data storage. Using a femtosecond laser, they have managed to store 4.8 terabytes on a 12-centimeter glass square, 2 millimeters thick.
The glass is resistant to moisture, temperature changes and electromagnetic interference, and the technology makes it possible to reliably write, read and decode data.
The laser burns the information into the glass in the form of small voxels, a bit like three-dimensional pixels. These can be stacked in hundreds of layers within the glass sheet.
But don't count on any glass hard drives. Once the information is burned in, it can't be overwritten.
