Abstract
The recent advances in the photorefraction of doped lithium niobate crystals are reviewed. Materials have always been the main obstacle for commercial applications of photorefractive holographic storage. Though iron-doped LiNbO3 is the mainstay of holographic data storage efforts, several shortcomings, especially the low response speed, impede it from becoming a commercial recording medium. This paper reviews the photorefractive characteristics of different dopants, especially tetravalent ions, doped and co-doped LiNbO3 crystals, including Hf, Zr and Sn monodoped LiNbO3, Hf and Fe, Zr and Fe doubly doped LiNbO3, Zr, Fe and Mn, Zr, Cu and Ce triply doped LiNbO3, Ru doped LiNbO3, and V and Mo monodoped LiNbO3. Among them, Zr, Fe and Mn triply doped LiNbO3 shows excellent nonvolatile holographic storage properties, and V and Mo monodoped LiNbO3 has fast response and multi-wavelength storage characteristics.
Highlights
Holographic data storage promises to become the next-generation optical storage technology for many years [1,2,3]
It was reported that photorefraction can be enhanced by transition-metal ions, such as Fe, Cu, Mn, Ni, etc. [7,8], and among them, iron doped LiNbO3 (LN:Fe) has the best photorefractive properties, such as high diffractive efficiencies, high data storage density and long dark storage time
Though LN:Fe went on to be the mainstay of holographic data storage efforts, several problems, such as low response speed, strong light-induced scattering and volatility impede it from becoming a commercial recording medium
Summary
Holographic data storage promises to become the next-generation optical storage technology for many years [1,2,3]. Used iron and manganese doubly doped LiNbO3 (LN:Fe,Mn) to form two different deep electron traps; illumination of the crystals with incoherent ultraviolet light during the recording process with a red-light interference pattern permits the storage of data that can be subsequently read without erasure in the absence of ultraviolet light. This resolution to the problem of volatility leads to the realization of a more practical system, but the response time is in the order of minutes, which is apparently too long for practical applications. Our particular choice of topics does not reflect on the importance of those issues that are not discussed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call