Japan creates 'giant' diamond semiconductor disc, the capacity is equivalent to 1 billion Blu-ray discs

This is the largest semiconductor disk ever made with such high purity.

Japanese researchers have developed a new method of making diamond wafers that could make a breakthrough in quantum storage. The 5cm diameter saucer is made of extremely pure diamonds. According to the Japanese research team, it can hold a huge amount of data, equivalent to a billion Blu-Ray discs.

The technique produces a semiconductor disc with a diameter of 5cm, with a capacity equivalent to 1 billion Blu-Ray discs.

Diamond is one of the most important materials in quantum computing research. A defect in this crystal, also known as the 'nitro-deficient center', can be used to store data in the form of superconducting quantum bits. However, if the amount of nitro in the diamond is too high, the storage capacity will decrease.

This prevents scientists from optimizing the breakthrough technology; either the end product will be a diamond semiconductor platter with too much nitrous, or a pure diamond disc too small to be used for data storage purposes.

However, a team at Saga University and Adamant Namiki Precision Jewelry have developed a new method of making semiconductor platters, with diamonds of high purity but still large enough for practical use. .

The technique produces a semiconductor disc with a diameter of 5cm, and a capacity equivalent to 1 billion Blu-Ray discs. The team used a Blu-Ray disc (single-layer type) with a capacity of 25GB as the standard, to calculate the capacity of diamond semiconductor discs up to 25 exabytes (EB). The Japanese company calls this groundbreaking technology 'Kenzan Diamonds'.

The density of nitro in the semiconductor wafer is extremely low, at only 3 parts per billion (for every 1 billion mass units of carbon, only 3 parts of it are nitro). This is the largest semiconductor platter ever made with such a high purity, previous fabrication efforts only yielded a pure disc with an area of ​​2 mm2.

Thanks to new production methods, the Japanese research team has a stable product. Typically, making a diamond semiconductor platter will require the crystal to be 'grown' on a flat substrate surface. However, diamonds easily crack under pressure and affect product quality.

To overcome this obstacle, the Japanese team stacked the substrate surface in steps, evenly spreading the pressure and preventing cracks from forming. Through this, the team was able to create large diamond semiconductor wafers with high purity.

The Japanese company hopes to commercialize the new product in 2023. Right now, they are trying to double the diameter of the disc to 10cm.