Data storage Guinness World Record broken by QR code pixels measuring just 49nm — 1.98 sq micrometer size is smaller than bacteria, can only be read with an electron microscope

A new Guinness World Record has been set for the smallest QR codes, featuring 49nm pixels, smaller than bacteria and only readable with an electron microscope. These tiny codes, created through a collaboration between TU Wien and Cerabyte, are too small to be seen by the naked eye and can hold over 2TB of data on an A4-sized film. The codes are milled into a thin ceramic layer, making them durable and energy-efficient, with potential implications for future data storage technologies. The teams are now focusing on optimizing writing speeds, scalable manufacturing, and developing more complex data structures beyond QR codes.