Scientists from the New York City College have developed new technology to accurately impact individual defects in wide-zone semiconductors, such as diamonds, in cryogenic conditions. This discovery, published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, could be the key to creating promising optical data storage technologies, including quantum computers.
At low temperatures, researchers found that atomic defects in diamonds emit various resonances, even when they are within the same diffraction spot. This enables the precise targeting of a narrow laser beam on specific defects without affecting neighboring defects. As a result, multiple pieces of information can be stored in each defect and easily rewritten when needed.
Tom Dorndord, a researcher at the New York City College and one of the lead authors of the study, explains that this new technology overcomes restrictions related to diffraction, similar to those that led to the development of Blu-Ray technology. Dorndord believes that this technique paves the way for three-dimensional data storage and allows for effortless data erasure and rewriting.
Aside from improving the density of optical data storage, this method also holds potential for use in quantum technologies, such as quantum sensing and quantum computing. It can be utilized to create a platform for quantum calculations and to study the movement of charges in diamonds and other semiconductors.
Although this technique is not yet suitable for widespread use in optical data storage at room temperature, it can already find applications in quantum technologies, which typically operate at very low temperatures. Scientists are optimistic that their discoveries will contribute to the future understanding and development of these technologies.