Researchers from the universities of Oxford, Exeter and Münster have demonstrated a new technique that can store more optical data in a smaller space than was previously possible on-chip. This technique improves upon the phase-change optical memory cell, which uses light to write and read data, and could offer a faster, more power-efficient form of memory for computers.
The scientists describe their new technique for all-optical data storage in the journal Optica.
Rather than using electrical signals to store data in one of two binary states as with conventional electronics-based computers, the optical memory cell uses light to store information.
