- The holographic ribbon based on Startup ribbon promises 200 TB by LTO cartridge
- Technology uses a polymer film and a $ 5 laser to write optical Voxels
- Is part of the LTO systems without software upstream or hardware modifications
British startup Holomem is developing a holographic storage system to replace or complete the LTO band.
The company, founded by the former engineer of Dyson Charlie Gale, uses cartridges of polymer ribbon written with laser diodes at $ 5. Each 100 -meter cartridge could store up to 200 TB in a writing and reading format.
The cartridges correspond to the LTO dimensions and operate in the existing band libraries without changes in upstream software. Training leads like shelves without an appointment, allowing libraries to operate in a hybrid LTO and Holomem configuration.
Ho1o
The idea began in Dyson, where Gale helped create a system of holographic labels called Ho1o. It has integrated several QR codes into a single hologram, readable from different angles or light sources.
“What we originally did to Ho1o for prototypes is to use a polymer material sensitive to light that you have just exposed to laser light … It locks the change of polymer and keeps this image,” said Gale Blocks and files.
This concept has evolved in storage of multilayer data using similar materials.
Unlike other optical approaches that use glass or ceramic, Holomem writes data in the form of holographic voxels in a polymer film. The film uses a laminated polymer sheet of 16 microns laminated between the layers of animals, forming a ribbon of 120 microns.
The Holodrive prototype writes and reads holograms using a 3D printed lens and a digital microirror device.
“We write pages of thousands of bits,” said Gale. The flow has not been disclosed, although it works at LTO-9 speeds. The reader uses 30 printed circuit cards and the modified LTO mechanisms.
Holomem received £ 900,000 in innovation subsidies in the United Kingdom and joins forces with Techre and Qstar for field tests and integration tests. It holds patents for the optical engine, the design of the supports and the volumetric storage method.
Blocks and files Reports: “We understand that Techre will deploy the Holodrives prototype in LTO libraries in its British data centers to test the performance, reliability and robustness of the product. Holomem has a written firmware of the device so that, we understand, it presents itself as a kind of LTO reader.”
Future capacity increases can come from a multi -channel recording, using several light wavelengths to overlap the data. Each added channel could multiply storage without hardware change.
