Japanese company Adamant Namiki Precision Jewel Co. and researchers at Saga University in Japan have found a way to produce 2-inch (about 5-centimeter) diamond wafers that can store data with a capacity equivalent to a billion disks. blu ray, about 26 million Terabytes. The technology used for the development of this component seems to be useful for application in quantum computing, such as quantum computers, and will start to be commercialized in 2023.
Diamond seems to be an ideal material for the development of quantum computing. However, so far, its size has prevented different applications. In fact, the Japanese firm developed a diamond wafer with a diameter of 1 inch in 2021 using a “microneedle method”, but they did not obtain the expected results for two reasons. The first is that the microneedle system makes the manufacturing process more difficult, which causes a higher cost in production. The second is its size; For this component to be applied in the electronics industry, it requires at least a 2-inch diameter disc.
Adamant Namiki has therefore focused on developing a way to grow the diamond wafer. The company, in particular, has used a system called “stepped flow growth”which also considerably improves its quality and prevents it from cracking .
“By tilting the direction of the substrate surface to several degrees from the crystal surface commutation, the steps of the atom become equally spaced on the surface of the substrate, and as a result, diamond crystals grow so that the steps flow horizontally, the stress is reduced and the quality of the glass is adequate.”
Adamant Namiki Precision Jewel Co. about the process of growth of step flow.
The diamond wafer: another step in the development of quantum computing
Adamant Namiki has named this diamond wafer ‘Kenzan Diamond’ and its main use could be quantum memory. Especially considering its incredible storage capacity. It supports, specifically, about 25 exabytes. That is, the equivalent of one billion Blu-Ray discs (taking into account that these are capable of storing about 25 GB).
the japanese company will start production in 2023 and hopes to continue developing larger discs in the future. “Currently, we are working on the development of the next stage, a diamond crystal with a diameter of 4 inches,” he confirmed.