Multifocal optical nanoscopy for big data recording at 30 TB capacity and gigabits/second data rate

The onrushing challenge to store the exponentially increasing amount of information generated each year with sustainable big data techniques has compelled ongoing technical revolutions in data storage. Even though recognized as an energy efficient solution, current optical data storage techniques based on bit-sequential scanning microscopy can enable a capacity of only a few tens of gigabytes per disk and a data rate of a few tens of megabits/second, restricted by the diffraction barrier of light. Here, we show that nanoscopy based on the principle of superresolution photoinduction-inhibited nanolithography can be effectively parallelized using accurate phase manipulations assisted by spatial light modulators. This new feature not only allows for three-dimensional recorded bits with a uniform feature size at tens of nanometers and a new equivalent capacity record of 30 TB per disk, but also a 2-orders-of-magnitude improvement in the data rate toward gigabits/second. Thus, our technique paves the way for the development of sustainable big data storage enabled by photonics.