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Veteran engineers Clark Johnson and Richard Jay Solomon are tackling a major challenge in data storage: keeping information safe and intact for centuries without using energy.
An article on IEEE Spectrum reports how Johnson, a key figure in HDTV’s development, and Solomon have pioneered new archival technology that merges elements of antique photography with modern data needs.
Their standing-wave storage (SWS) system, developed at Wave Domain, offers a resilient, tamper-proof solution for safeguarding digital information in a tiny format.
Writing data in color waves
Inspired by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Gabriel Lippmann’s emulsion technique, the technology stores data by capturing color waves in a durable silver halide emulsion. Johnson’s path to this innovation began with his HDTV work, which he developed with Solomon and a team at MIT in the late 1980s.
This work led Johnson and his team to become experts in optics and digital imaging – a skillset that now informs their latest creation. Collaborating with emulsion expert Yves Gentet, they adapted Lippmann’s method to store multiple colors per pixel, creating a high-density archival medium.
The SWS technology is designed for applications where data needs preservation over long periods without power or copies.
“The data that we read is coming off the plate at such a high bandwidth,” Solomon told IEEE Spectrum. “There is no computer on the planet that can absorb it without some buffering.” Using LEDs and a specially formulated silver halide plate, the system “writes” data in color waves that, once processed, are immune to moisture, radiation, and cosmic rays.
NASA tested the storage medium’s durability by sending 150 SWS samples to the International Space Station in 2019, where they were exposed to cosmic radiation for nine months.
Upon their return, Solomon reported “absolutely zero degradation” in the data. This resilience, even in space’s harsh conditions, supports the technology’s potential for data centers, scientific research, and space applications requiring minimal energy.
“The idea is to use readily available parts,” Johnson said, when talking about the practicalities of SWS. With low costs and no power needed to preserve data, Johnson envisions uses beyond space, especially in data-heavy fields.
Now aged 94, Johnson told IEEE Spectrum that he isn’t looking to create a startup based around the technology but rather is seeking a successor to lead Wave Domain’s SWS to mainstream adoption.
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