Burn After Read: A Rewritable Multiplexing Optical Information Storage and Encryption Method

Abstract

Information storage and security are the building blocks of the information age. Optical information storage is a low‐cost, robust, and high‐capacity storage technique. Discovering new optical information storage media and techniques with beyond binary capacity and enhanced security is in demand. Here a beyond‐binary, “burn after read” and rewritable multiplexing optical information storage and encryption method is demonstrated via Ce:YAG trapping states. It is found that the thermo‐luminescence (TL) intensity of Ce:YAG trapping states is writing light power dependent, enabling multi‐gray‐level information storage and encoding.A new strategy to encode multiplexing information in a single pixel, increasing the storage capability is presented. Meanwhile, the burn after read feature protects the data from secondary leakage. This method has wide applications in data storage, anti‐counterfeiting, and encryption.