3 ms·
If it's for archiving, how long such storage can live?
by GoblinSlayer 5y ago
If it's for archiving, how long such storage can live?
- adrian_b 5y agoIt is just silica glass, so unless you break it or you melt it or you dissolve it in a caustic alkali or in a hydrogen fluoride solution, it could be preserved for millions of years. Silica glass could crystallize, which might distort the surface, but this process is extremely slow at normal temperatures. Exactly how fast it is depends on manufacturing and impurities. The existing optical discs have the problem that the metallic mirror oxidizes in time and no longer reflects light, unless it is made of gold, which is expensive. If gold is used as in some archival CDs and DVDs, then the polycarbonate transparent plastic will depolymerize after some time, which could be more than a hundred years, if the discs are stored in optimal conditions of temperature and humidity.
- GoblinSlayer 5y agoCan something like quartz be used for this kind of storage? Will it age better? Or is it more expensive?