Microsoft · Memory & storage · Filed May 7, 2025 · USPTO published Nov 12, 2026 · This week's release

Microsoft Files Patent for Squeezing More Data Into Glass Storage Plates

A hard drive might last 5 to 10 years, while data etched in glass could last thousands. Microsoft's new patent application tries to cram more information into each tiny etched spot by changing its shape.

By Patentlyze Team · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · 3 min read

Distinct light shapes let a recorder write multiple layers of digital memory onto the same spot in a glass plate. Drawing from patent filing US 2026/0358673 A1. — Distinct light shapes let a recorder write multiple layers of digital memory onto the same spot in a glass plate.All 7 drawings ↓

Publication number: US 2026/0358673 A1(US20260358673A1)
Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
Filed · Published: May 7, 2025 · Nov 12, 2026
Inventors: Joona Juhana KOPONEN, Simo Kaarlo TAMMELA, Esa Tapani RAIKKONEN
Status when we published: Waiting for an examiner
Document: 20 claims
US classification: 359/305
Examiner: CHOI, WILLIAM C (Art Unit 2872)

Hardware

What Microsoft's glass-storage patent does

You're backing up a lifetime of photos, and the hard drive you're trusting will probably last 5 to 10 years. Data written into glass plates, by contrast, is described in this filing as lasting thousands of years. The catch is getting enough information into each tiny spot.

Glass storage works by zapping a plate with a laser. Each altered spot (called a voxel) holds one or more bits of data. Today every spot has the same shape, and the laser's strength is what encodes the data, which leaves very little room for error.

This patent application changes the shape of the spot instead. Switch between two shapes and each spot holds one extra bit; add more shapes and you get more bits. The trick is steering the laser beam down one of two paths that reshape it, quickly enough to keep writing fast.

From the filing · CLAIM 1

… the modulator is controllable to cause a deflection of an input light beam from a first optical path to a second optical path through the one or more waveguides …

Translation: The system uses a controller to steer a laser beam along different routes through glass channels.

How a laser beam gets two different shapes

The filing describes a light delivery system that sits between a laser and the glass. It has a fast modulator (a device that steers or switches a light beam on command) and one or more waveguides (thin channels, usually optical fibers, that carry light). On a control signal, the modulator sends the beam down one of two paths. Because the paths treat light differently, the beam comes out with a different brightness pattern and burns a different-shaped spot.

The filing lays out several ways to build those two paths:

One fiber that supports several modes (patterns light can take inside a fiber): a plain circular one on one path and a more complex, non-circular one on the other.
Two fibers, where one converts the light to the complex pattern with a long period grating (a series of tiny marks in the fiber) or a slight sideways offset at a joint.
Two fibers with different core shapes, circular and elliptical.
Two identical fibers, with a non-circular lens on one output.

The modulator can be an acousto-optic type (sound waves bend the beam, and it handles more laser power) or an electro-optic type (it switches the light's polarization, runs faster, and pairs with a polarization splitter). A second modulator can first adjust beam strength, so shape and strength both carry data. Many such systems could run in parallel to write several spots at once.

From the filing · THE ABSTRACT

… resulting in a different spatial distribution of an output light beam output from the light delivery system …

Translation: This shifting changes how the laser light spreads out when it exits the system to store data.

Why more data per spot matters for archives

The appeal is simple: more data per spot means more data per plate. Glass storage is pitched as a compact, long-lived home for information you rarely touch but can't afford to lose, such as old family photos or company records. The filing puts the life of magnetic storage at perhaps 5 to 10 years, against thousands for glass.

The approach is also built to keep writing speed up, since the shape change comes from switching a beam path rather than slowing the laser down. It can be combined with the existing method of varying laser strength, so the gains could stack. For now, this is a patent application describing optics, not a product.

Microsoft's fifth filing in the Memory & storage patents we cover since May follows earlier work on power tracking per VM and NVMe command batching.

Editorial take

The shortest path to a working product here is a hardware swap. The design adds one module between the laser and the glass, and the filing says the rest of the writing setup (laser, focusing optics, the plate itself) stays as it is. A single added part is easier to ship than a whole new machine.

That said, everything in it is physical: specialty fibers, precisely joined fiber ends, a fast beam switch. Nothing here arrives as a software update. One example calls for a fiber joint offset by under five millionths of a meter, which tells you how finely this has to be built.

The filing also admits the beam will leak a little into the wrong shape and blur the pattern, though it argues the shapes stay distinct and repeatable. It describes only the writing side, so a reader that can tell the shapes apart is the piece that would need to exist next.

Source: US 2026/0358673 A1 at the USPTO (PDF). Full patent text and figures are in the official publication.

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The drawings · 7 sheets

7 drawing sheets from US 2026/0358673 A1 · click any drawing to enlarge

Laser light patterns used to encode data inside glass, drawing sheet 1 from US 2026/0358673 A1 — Sheet 1 Laser light patterns used to encode data inside glass

Directing light pulses into fibers to change beam shapes, drawing sheet 2 from US 2026/0358673 A1 — Sheet 2 Directing light pulses into fibers to change beam shapes

Combining fiber paths or crystals to switch light modes, drawing sheet 3 from US 2026/0358673 A1 — Sheet 3 Combining fiber paths or crystals to switch light modes

Reshaping light pulses using a specially curved lens, drawing sheet 4 from US 2026/0358673 A1 — Sheet 4 Reshaping light pulses using a specially curved lens

Steps for writing custom light shapes into glass, drawing sheet 5 from US 2026/0358673 A1 — Sheet 5 Steps for writing custom light shapes into glass

Adding laser power control to store more data bits, drawing sheet 6 from US 2026/0358673 A1 — Sheet 6 Adding laser power control to store more data bits

Adjusting both beam shape and pulse brightness to record data, drawing sheet 7 from US 2026/0358673 A1 — Sheet 7 Adjusting both beam shape and pulse brightness to record data

The drawings · 7 sheets

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