Tungsten-siliconnitride Medium for Mega- to Gigayear Data Storage

Throughout the ages humanity has stored data in order to preserve important information for generations to come. As the years have progressed the amount of data that can be stored efficiently has increased tremendously, the lifespan of this type of data storage however is severely limited. Within this paper we investigate the possibility to store data by encapsulating W in a SiN matrix. We show that using accelerated thermal aging the possible lifespan of this medium can be investigated and expected to reach well into the millions of years, preserving data for thousands of future generations. The first steps into fabrication of such a medium are discussed.