The self-encrypting molecular hard drive is innovative, but not yet perfected.
Chinese scientists have developed a technology that stores and encrypts data on organic molecules. This can be used to develop hard drives with extremely high storage capacity, such as 100 TB and more, with low energy consumption.
Can Molecular Storage Keep Up with the HDD Industry?
Despite the innovative approach, there are doubts about the feasibility of molecular hard drives. Manufacturers are already working on Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) and Bit-Patterned Media (BPM), which will become more widely accessible in the 2030s. These technologies will enable storage capacities above 120 TB, without the experimental drawbacks of molecular storage, such as limited lifespan.
However, the molecular hard drive has a major advantage: built-in encryption at the molecular level. By directly applying Exclusive Or (XOR) logic, data can be automatically encrypted and decrypted. The researchers demonstrated this by encoding and decoding images of murals in this way.
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The biggest challenge remains the limited lifespan of the Computer Aided Facility Management (C-AFM) tips. These are needles used to read the molecular storage layer. These tips last only 50 to 200 hours with sporadic use, and in continuous use only 5 to 50 hours.
If these technical limitations are resolved, molecular storage could become a new standard. Until then, the technology remains a promising but experimental concept.