QR code smaller than bacteria sets world record

This code was manufactured by the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien) in Austria in cooperation with the German company Cerabyte. It is so small that it cannot be seen with the naked eye or an optical microscope but must be observed under an electron microscope. At 1.98 square micrometers, it is 37% the size of the previous record holder and smaller than most bacteria, marking a huge step forward for the data storage industry.

Modern storage devices such as hard drives often fail after a few years. However, the research team from TU Wien and Cerabyte used thin ceramic membranes to achieve durability, maintaining stability under high temperatures and pressures. Specifically, they used focused ion beams to engrave QR codes into the ceramic layer. Each pixel is 49 nanometers wide, 10 times smaller than the wavelength of visible light.

Professor Paul Mayrhofer at TU Wien explains that although scientists can manipulate individual atoms, the resulting code often changes over time as the atoms diffuse and fill the space, corrupting the stored information. According to Mayrhofer, they solved this problem, “creating QR codes that are super small but stable and can be read over and over again”, ensuring data lasts for centuries.

The team of scientists said that the new ultra-small QR code technology brings impressive storage capacity when a single layer of A4-sized membrane can hold more than 2 TB of data. Unlike data centers, this storage requires no cooling or power, providing an environmentally friendly alternative for the information age. Thanks to that, people can reduce their dependence on electronic vehicles, which have a short lifespan and require constant power, regular maintenance and cooling.

After the world’s smallest QR code record was verified, the team focused on making the process faster and more cost-effective, and looked beyond QR codes to more complex data structures.