Burn After Read: A Rewritable Multiplexing Optical Information Storage and Encryption Method

Information storage and security are the building blocks of the information age. Optical information storage is a low-cost, robust, and high-capacity storage technique. Discovering new optical information storage media and techniques with beyond binary capacity and enhanced security is in demand. Here a beyond-binary, "burn after read" and rewritable multiplexing optical information storage and encryption method is demonstrated via Ce:YAG trapping states. It is found that the thermo-luminescence (TL) intensity of Ce:YAG trapping states is writing light power dependent, enabling multi-gray-level information storage and encoding.A new strategy to encode multiplexing information in a single pixel, increasing the storage capability is presented. Meanwhile, the burn after read feature protects the data from secondary leakage. This method has wide applications in data storage, anti-counterfeiting, and encryption.