Background
The explosion of digital information—from scientific data to entertainment media—has outpaced the capabilities of traditional storage technologies. Magnetic hard drives, solid-state drives, and optical media face limitations in terms of environmental robustness, long-term retention, and energy efficiency. Large-scale data centers incur substantial operational costs related to redundancy, cooling, and maintenance, while archival needs across government, research, and cultural sectors demand platforms that offer much higher density, longevity, and minimal resource consumption.
Efforts to create molecular-level data storage solutions have emerged but are often hindered by technical bottlenecks. DNA-based systems require costly and labor-intensive synthesis and multi-step sequencing processes, while optical and magnetic media suffer from limited lifespans and environmental susceptibility. Mass spectrometry-based systems show promise but frequently require complex sample preparations, metal substrates, or chemical tags, slowing throughput and complicating adoption. A streamlined, scalable method for writing and reading molecular data remains a pressing need for the future of digital archiving.
Technology overview
This technology introduces a molecular storage system that utilizes desorption spray ionization for rapid, label-free readout of digital information encoded in sequence-defined oligourethanes. A thin film of oligourethanes is sprayed with charged solvent droplets, causing the polymer chains to desorb and ionize directly into a mass spectrometer. Each monomer in the oligomer corresponds to a Huffman-encoded digital symbol, enabling a direct mapping of mass spectra to original binary data without the need for fluorescent, radioactive, or metal labels.
The all-organic, label-free system offers real-time decoding and significantly reduces material complexity compared to existing molecular storage technologies. By eliminating multi-step sample preparation and leveraging efficient Huffman coding, this approach maximizes bit density and simplifies retrieval. The use of synthetic polymers such as oligourethanes provides a pathway for scalable manufacturing, environmental stability, and ultra-high data density—positioning this platform as a promising candidate for next-generation archival storage.
Benefits
- Enables label-free, real-time readout of molecularly encoded data
- Avoids metal substrates, fluorescent tags, and complex chemical modifications
- Maximizes storage density using Huffman-coded sequence-defined oligourethanes
- Reduces energy, infrastructure, and material requirements compared to traditional storage media
- Provides environmental stability and long-term retention for archival data applications
Commercial applications
- High-density archival data storage
- Secure information encoding for government and defense sectors
- Scientific data preservation for research institutions
- Cultural heritage digital archiving
- Next-generation molecular storage platforms
Opportunity
- Replaces traditional magnetic, optical, and solid-state storage with scalable molecular-level systems
- Offers a simplified, energy-efficient workflow for long-term, high-capacity data retention
- Available for licensing to companies and institutions seeking to develop next-generation archival storage technologies
Publication
Intellectual property
- WO 2025/058677 A2 - Compositions and methods for encrypting, storing, and decrypting information in oligomers
