Diamond lenses can increase optical data storage
5 October 2005
News
At the heart of the increase in the density of data storage is the ability to produce small lenses that operate at short wavelengths. These solid-immersion lenses (SILs) conform to tight tolerances on diameter, thickness, surface form and roughness, at a diameter of 1 mm or smaller.
Element Six (E6), formerly DeBeers Industrial Diamonds, has developed a process that it claims can obtain the required form accuracy in 1 mm synthetic single crystal diamond spheres.
Since the introduction of the Compact-Disk in 1985, it has become the standard optical storage medium. The demand for increased disk capacity has resulted in the DVD and its successor, the Blu-Ray disk. Diamond lenses are a crucial component of the next generation of storage technology and will enable a storage capacity of up to 1 TB (1000 GB) per disk.
The increased disk capacity is achieved technically by reducing the wavelengths of the readout laser and by increasing the numerical aperture (NA) of the focusing lens. To achieve a large NA, a material with high refractive index and transparency at the wavelength used is needed. Diamond is the ultimate material for this application, with the largest known refractive index of any transparent material in the blue and ultraviolet region.
E6 optimised its chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process in order to produce the required defect-free optical material. The new process has improved the lens accuracy by a factor 10 compared to earlier techniques, it says.
E6 is a leading producer of synthetic diamond for industrial use. It has processing and manufacturing facilities in Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, South Africa and the UK. In addition it operates the Diamond Research Laboratory in South Africa as well as numerous sales and distribution offices worldwide.
Further reading:
Technical resource centre for smart cities
News
Mouser’s infrastructure and smart cities content hub features comprehensive articles, blogs, eBooks, and products from Mouser’s technical team and trusted manufacturing partners.
Read more...
UFS Flash named Best in Show
EBV Electrolink
News
KIOXIA Europe GmbH was named as winner in the Memory & Storage category of the Embedded Computing Design (ECD) electronica Best in Show Awards at the recently held electronica 2024.
Read more...
Save the date for Securex South Africa 2025
News
Home to Africa’s largest collection of security solutions, Securex South Africa returns to Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand from 3 to 5 June 2025.
Read more...
Trina Storage ranked in top 10
News
Amidst the global energy storage market, Trina Storage has once again earned recognition from authoritative institutions with its outstanding innovation capabilities and global layout.
Read more...
2025 outlook for DRAM is poor
News
According to TrendForce, weak demand outlook and rising inventory and supply forecast to pressure DRAM prices down for 2025.
Read more...
Price hike to challenge energy reforms
News
Eskom’s proposed 44% price hike could undermine renewable energy gains despite tech innovation.
Read more...
IO Ninja debugging tool
RF Design
News
Tibbo has released a major update to IO Ninja, its versatile communications debugging tool for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Read more...
Young SA robotics team takes world title
News
In a demonstration of innovation and teamwork, Texpand, a South African youth robotics team based in Cape Town, recently made history by winning the 2024 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championships.
Read more...
From the editor's desk: A brave new world
Technews Publishing
News
The technology Tesla currently uses in its cars from the batteries, power electronics, controllers, through to the mechanics, gearboxes, and the AI inference computer and software have are incorporated in the development of Optimus, allowing the development of the robot to gain impressive features in a relatively short time span.
Read more...
Seven Labs partnership enhances local electronics distribution
Seven Labs Technology
News
Aimed at revolutionising the electronics distribution landscape in South Africa, Seven Labs has announced a partnership with LCSC, one of China’s most reputable electronics distributors.
Read more...
printer friendly version