The researchers indicated how a simple and low-cost technique involving focused laser beam and ozone treatment can enable atomic-scale data storage.
Lasers find their application in almost all sectors including data storage. Recently, researchers demonstrated how a focused laser beam can change the properties of nanomaterials, thus can write information onto monolayer materials. The researchers, using this approach, revealed the thinnest light disk at atomic level. The research was undertaken by scientists from Nanjing Normal University (NJNU) and Southeast University (SEU).
The researchers indicated how a simple and low-cost technique involving focused laser beam and ozone treatment can control the photoluminescence (PL) emission of WS2 (tungsten disulfide) monolayers. PL is considered an ideal technology for encryption and decryption. The writing and reading of information are enabled through direct control of fluorescence contrast of WS2 monolayers. Ozone and focused laser beam scanning are employed to on-demand manipulate PL emission and realize encryption.
The laser beam allows selectively to write information on a CD. Moreover, the written data is erasable, making the monolayer light disk reusable.
“In our childhood, most of us are likely to have experience of focusing sunlight onto a piece of paper by magnifying glass and trying to ignite the paper. The scorched spot on paper is a sort of data recording at the moment. Instead of focusing sunlight, we focus laser beams on modified atomic level materials and study effects of the focused laser beam on PL emissions of the materials,” said Prof. Junpeng Lu.
The study was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials on 24 June 2021.
