The Thinnest Light Disk: Rewritable Data Storage and Encryption on WS₂ Monolayers

Abstract

The thinnest light disk is demonstrated at the atomic level by developing an erasable method to directly write encrypted information onto WS2 monolayers. The write‐in is realized by precise control of photoluminescence emission by means of ozone functionalization and scanning focused laser beam. The visual decryption and reading‐out of information are enabled by fluorescence contrast. The high encryption level is ensured by the threshold power upon which the data deletion will be triggered. Owing to the high spatial resolution and power sensitivity, the storage capacity within <1 nm thickness can be up to ≈62.5 MB cm−2, and the writing speed can reach ≈6.25 MB s−1. Density functional theory calculations suggest that the disk formatting is realized by ozone molecule adsorption induced localized unoccupied states, while the read‐in relies on the passivation of defects via substitution of the sulfur vacancies with oxygen atoms. The results of this study promote data storage and encryption on the atomic scale.

Substitutional oxygen activated photoluminescence enhancement in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

“…1b) at ~1.99 eV. It clearly shows that the exposure of monolayer WS 2 to low-power laser irradiation slightly increases the PL intensity to a steady state, which then remains in the same plateau for ~80 s, similar to the results in previous reports [17,33]. Strikingly, we observed a sudden intensity increase starting at ~88 s, which has not been reported.…”

Optical Logic Operation Encryption on ZnTe Flake

“…Compared with other complex PL encryption methods, ZnTe can achieve optical logic operation encryption without complex structure and treatment. [4,6,11,22,[29][30][31] Thus, ZnTe is promising for external field modulation to realize logic operation encryption.…”

“…With the rapid development of information technology, information security has attracted considerable interest in economic, military, and daily life. [1][2][3][4] As a means of safeguarding information security, encryption has paramount significance in data storage and transmission. [5][6][7][8][9][10] However, most current encryption methods focus on terminal encryption, rarely involving internal logic operation encryption.…”

“…Generally, photoluminescence (PL) can be efficient for encryption due to its fast readability and facile design. [4,13,[19][20][21] In recent years, many PL materials such as quantum dots, [19,22] upconverting nanoparticles, [23] perovskites, [6,24] and organic dyes [5,25] were employed for information encryption. However, the traditional optical materials usually exhibit unsatisfied PL properties such as few peaks and uncontrollability, limiting the by a 532-nm laser, two emission bands required for encryption are observed, with peaks at 547 nm and 680 nm, respectively (Figure 1d).…”

Electric‐Tunable Photoluminescence of 2D ErOCl for High‐Security Encryption of Programmable Information

“…[27] Therefore, 2D RE materials have shown great potential for high-security encryption as excellent candidates of neotype medium. [28][29][30] Herein, we demonstrate high-security encryption of programmable information via 2D RE material ErOCl based on the electric-tunable photoluminescence (PL) as shown in Figure 1. Electric-tunable PL is achieved by the temperature change derived from the electric-induced Joule heat.…”