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Microsoft patents 3D glass storage using laser light patterns

This patent describes a way to store digital data inside a clear block of glass or crystal. It uses focused laser pulses to create tiny 3D points, called voxels, where the intensity of the light determines how much data is stored in each spot.

Why it mattersThis approach could lead to data storage that lasts for thousands of years without power, offering a durable alternative to hard drives or flash memory.

In the filing’s own words

A method of writing data to a transparent substrate comprises forming a first voxel by focusing a first laser pulse on a first location in a transparent substrate; and forming a second voxel by focusing a second laser pulse on a second location in the transparent substrate. The first laser pulse and the second laser pulse have different amplitudes, resulting in the first and second voxels having different strengths. Also provided are a system useful for implementing the method; an optical data storage medium obtainable by the method; and a method of reading data from the optical data storage medium.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method of reading data from an optical data storage medium comprising a transparent substrate, the method comprising: capturing an image of a sector of voxels embedded in the transparent substrate using a refractive-index-sensitive microscope, the sector of voxels comprising a 2-dimensional group of voxels, the 2-dimensional group of voxels comprising a first phase voxel having a first strength and a second phase voxel having a second strength that is different from the first strength; and recovering a first data symbol encoded by the first strength of the first phase voxel and a second data symbol encoded by the second strength of the second phase voxel based on brightnesses of pixels in the image, the second data symbol being different than the first data symbol.

Facts

Company
Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
Official title
Phase-modulated optical data storage
Patent number
US12731610B2
Application number
18958980
Filed
Nov 25, 2024
Granted
Sep 8, 2026
Inventors
16
Claims
20

Classified under

G11B 7/0051 Physics & computingG11B 7/126 Physics & computingG11B 2007/0013 Physics & computingG11B 2007/25301 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.