Million-Year Data Storage Disk Unveiled
[Philip Lelyveld comment; this could be added to the list of potential film archiving solutions.]
Magnetic hard discs can store data for little more than a decade. But nanotechnologists have now designed and built a disk that can store data for a million years or more.
The data is stored in the pattern of lines etched into a thin metal disc and then covered with a protective layer.
The metal in question is tungsten, which they chose because of its high melting temperature (3,422 degrees C) and low thermal expansion coefficient. The protective layer is silicon nitride (Si3N4) chosen because of its high resistance to fracture and its low thermal expansion coefficient.
These guys made their disc using standard patterning techniques and stored data in the form of QR codes with lines 100nm wide.
Read the full story here: http://www.technologyreview.com/view/520541/million-year-data-storage-disk-unveiled/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20131022