UV-ray offers 500GB disc

Drivemaker Pioneer has found a way to make optical discs with a capacity of 500GB ð more than 100 times the capacity of a standard DVD disc, according to a Japanese report.

The system uses an ultraviolet laser with a wavelength considerably shorter than the 405nanometers used by the latest Blu-Ray discs.

But the report in the Nikkei Business Daily does not make clear if Pioneer has found a low-cost way to manufacture these. The Pioneer system uses data dots some 70nm apart. This compares with a separation of 320nm on a Blu-Ray disc. Scattering of the beam is a major problem at these scales, and Pioneer claims to have solved it by using a substrate made of carbon covered with a light-sensitive resin.

But more research is needed before the technology can be incorporated into a product.