One of the biggest problems surrounding early attempts at holographic storage, Dr. Curtis said, had more to do with materials than physics or computer science.

But while magnetic recording has blossomed into a huge industry, holographic storage has never emerged from the lab.

But excitement about holographic storage has picked up in recent months as several significant developments have been reported.

Using light of this wavelength, perfect holographic storage could store 4 gigabits per cubic millimetre.

With holographic storage, however, a different 'page' of information is accessed.

The major challenge ahead is expected to be the development of a rewritable form of holographic storage.

The new material may change all that, offering the possibility of practical holographic read-only storage for the first time.

"That's the true test if the material will work for holographic storage."

Everybody will have holographic storage or some other form of random access storage.

There are several hurdles that have been holding holographic storage back from the realm of mass consumption, including price and complexity.