Tiny crystals could hold the key to creating computers with massive storage capacity, scientists believe.

The crystals could be used as storage devices for desktop computers capable of holding 100-times more data than current systems.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have been using low-energy lasers to make salt crystals in gel.

The development could allow users to store a terabyte of data in a space the size of a sugar cube within a decade.

This would be enough to hold the equivalent of 250,000 photographs or a million books.

Many scientists regard making crystals as a black art, as the process of producing solid crystals from salt in solution is difficult to control.

It requires a critical mass of molecules gathered at one place, which is difficult to trigger and regulate.

The researchers overcame this difficulty by focusing two overlapping low-energy laser beams on a salt solution, providing exactly the right amount of energy to form a temporary crystal.

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Tags: black art, critical mass, energy laser, energy lasers, holographic storage, laser beams, low energy, massive storage, salt crystals, storage capacity, storage devices, sugar cube, terabyte, tiny crystals, university of edinburgh

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