An input-data page modulation scheme for content-addressable holographic digital data storage

Abstract

We implement a new modulation scheme for inputting digital data pages for content-addressable holographic data storage. This scheme, which is a modification of the hybrid ternary modulation (HTM) scheme, exploits the advantages of both pure phase modulation and hybrid ternary modulation. The technique of using binary phase data pages with equal number of 0 and π using twisted-nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator reduces strong dc component and produces a more homogeneous spectral distribution at the recording plane. This technique should facilitate better recording of all spatial frequencies, and thus improve the discrimination capability of a content-addressable memory. In HTM, there are three states to represent binary bits, whereas in the proposed code, we use the two bright states with a difference of π for coding the binary data. The third state, which is a dark state, is used to code the undesired regions of the spatial light modulator (SLM) while performing a search operation using a small search argument. We also introduce a new balanced modulation code which is a modified version of the 8:12 modulation code to address the coding subtleties associated with phase-based data pages. The proposed technique enhances the discrimination capability of content search using small search arguments, thereby giving better results in associative recall in a holographic memory system, with very low number of false hits compared to the existing schemes. A comparative study is presented of discrimination ratio and SNR for the different modulation schemes.