Peter Kazansky: Nanostructures in glass will store data for billions of years

Femtosecond-laser writing in fused quartz has resulted in high-capacity storage that could last up to 13 billion years, according to researchers in Peter Kazansky's lab at the University of Southampton (UK) Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC).

Peter G. Kazansky is a Professsor at the ORC, leading a group in physical optoelectronics. He has some 22 years experience in quantum electronics, fiber and integrated optics. He received a MSc degree in Physics from Moscow State University in 1979 and a PhD under the supervision of Nobel Laureate for the invention of laser, A.M. Prokhorov, from the General Physics Institute in 1985. From 1989 to 1993 he led a group at the GPI, unraveling the mystery of a new optical phenomenon -- light-induced frequency doubling in media with inversion symmetry. In recognition of this work he was awarded the title Senior Research Fellow in Physical Electronics in 1992. The same year he was awarded a Royal Society Fellowship at the ORC, where he is now pursuing his interests in advanced photonic materials, poling, photosensitivity, femtosecond 3D direct writing, integrated atom optics and quantum information research. Over the past years this research has led to several world-first demonstrations including the first evidence of coherent photoconductivity via quantum interference in condensed matter.