Mempile promises 1TB disk

Mempile’s TeraDiscs targeted at enterprise archiving applications

Developments of the week in storage

A start-up based in Israel is appearing on the radar. Mempile makes 1TB disks called TeraDiscs and is targeting enterprise archiving applications.

The TeraDisk is a removable disk the size of a single DVD. It uses a new optical technology that allows it to store 300GB more data than the blue-laser technologies will be able to in 2010. Mempile uses a two-photon technology that allows it to record in three-dimensions and write data to transparent virtual layers over the entire surface of the disk. As many as 100 layers can be recorded and read.

Each Mempile disk contains light sensitive molecules called chromophores that are capable of being switched between two distinct states when light is applied. Because the application of light to the disk media is non-linear only molecules near the focal point will interact and switch state, allowing for the writing of data selectively within the bulk of the material.

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A start-up based in Israel is appearing on the radar. Mempile makes 1TB disks called TeraDiscs and is targeting enterprise archiving applications.

The TeraDisk is a removable disk the size of a single DVD. It uses a new optical technology that allows it to store 300GB more data than the blue-laser technologies will be able to in 2010. Mempile uses a two-photon technology that allows it to record in three-dimensions and write data to transparent virtual layers over the entire surface of the disk. As many as 100 layers can be recorded and read.

Each Mempile disk contains light sensitive molecules called chromophores that are capable of being switched between two distinct states when light is applied. Because the application of light to the disk media is non-linear only molecules near the focal point will interact and switch state, allowing for the writing of data selectively within the bulk of the material.

Reading of data is performed in a similar way, where light that does not result in writing excites the chromophores making them emit light. The amount of light emitted is sensitive to there being written or unwritten molecules near the focal point, allowing the process to be used as a reading mechanism.

Mempile will have prototypes of its technology available in 18 months. The company was founded in 2000 and is funded by Jerusalem Venture Partners, Israeli Seed Partners, Kodiak Venture Partners and Millennium Materials Technologies Fund.

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Deni Connor is principal analyst for Storage Strategies NOW and host of both the Masters of Storage and Masters of Servers Solution Centers.