Optical storage arrays: a perspective for future big data storage

The advance of nanophotonics has provided a variety of avenues for light–matter interaction at the nanometer scale through the enriched mechanisms for physical and chemical reactions induced by nanometer-confined optical probes in nanocomposite materials. These emerging nanophotonic devices and materials have enabled researchers to develop disruptive methods of tremendously increasing the storage capacity of current optical memory. In this paper, we present a review of the recent advancements in nanophotonics-enabled optical storage techniques. Particularly, we offer our perspective of using them as optical storage arrays for next-generation exabyte data centers.