Volume Holographic Data Storage Research Articles

Holographic memory performances of titanocene dispersed poly (methyl methacrylate) photopolymer with different preparation conditions

This work proposed a new kind of photosensitizer doped photopolymer and an optimized fabrication method. Holographic gratings are recorded in a glass-like photopolymer based on methyl methacrylate (MMA) as monomer, 2,2-azo-bisisobutyrolnitrile (AIBN) as thermo-initiator and a cationic initiator with high sensitivity and solubility, titanocene (Irgacure 784, BASF) (TI), as photo-initiator. In our fabrication, an optimized three-step thermal-polymerization method is investigated and depicted. 3 mm thick TI/PMMA photopolymers with different concentrations of AIBN and TI molecules are examined in detail. The photo-physical and photo-chemical processes inside the sample during continuous exposure are analyzed. In our photopolymers, permanent volume holographic gratings with diffraction efficiency approaching 74% and response time close to 20s, which makes this photopolymer available in volume holographic data storage.

One-shot and aberration-tolerable homodyne detection for holographic storage readout through double-frequency grating-based lateral shearing interferometry.

A simple method to decode the stored phase signal of volume holographic data storage with adequate wave aberration tolerance is highly demanded. We proposed and demonstrated a one-shot scheme to decode a binary-phase encoding signal through double-frequency-grating based shearing interferometry (DFGSI). The lateral shearing amount is dependent on the focal length of the collimated lens and the frequency difference between the gratings. Diffracted waves with phase encoding were successfully decoded through experimentation. An optical model for the DFGSI was built to analyze phase-error induction and phase-difference control by shifting the double-frequency grating longitudinally and laterally, respectively. The optical model was demonstrated experimentally. Finally, a high aberration tolerance of the DFGSI was demonstrated using the optical model.

Influence of fabrication conditions on characteristics of phenanthrenequinone-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) photopolymer for holographic memory

In this paper, we experimentally investigate the influence of the fabrication conditions on holographic characteristics in phenanthrenequinone-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PQ:PMMA) bulk photopolymer. In our investigation, the PQ:PMMA bulk samples are fabricated by use of a two-step thermo-polymerization method. We firstly propose to monitor relative viscosity of the monomer solution during the sample preparation to obtain a reliable criterion for material fabrication. We then compare experimentally characteristics of 2-mm thick samples fabricated with different conditions for holographic memory. The results show that the conditions in the first step play a important rule for fabricating bulk PQ:PMMA samples with good optical uniformity. In addition, the conditions in the second step play the rule for controlling the concentration of residual monomer and determine holographic characteristics. These results can provide a useful rule for fabricating bulk PQ:PMMA photopolymers for further applications on volume holographic data storage.

Photorefractive properties for holographic application of Ce:Fe:LiNbO3 crystals with various [Li]/[Nb] ratios

Ce:Fe:LiNbO3 crystals with various [Li]/[Nb] ratios were grown by the Czochralski method from melts having compositions varying between 48.6 and 58 mol% Li2O. The Ce, Li and Nb concentrations in the grown Ce:Fe:LiNbO3 crystals were analyzed by the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES). It was found that as the [Li]/[Nb] ratio increases in the melt, the [Li]/[Nb] ratio in the crystal and the distribution coefficients of Ce ions increase also. The photorefractive properties of the Ce:Fe:LiNbO3 crystals were experimentally studied by the two-wave coupling method. The results show that as the [Li]/[Nb] ratio increases, the dynamic range decreases, but the photorefractive sensitivity and the signal-to-noise ratio improve. In a coherent volume 0.192 cm3 of a Ce:Fe:LiNbO3 crystal with [Li]/[Nb] ratio of 1.2, 3800 holograms with 800×600 pixels have been successfully multiplexed in a compact volume holographic data storage system.

A two-dimensional constant-weight sparse modulation code for volume holographic data storage

In order to simplify the threshold determination, reduce the inter-pixel cross-talk, and improve the storage density for high-density volume holographic data storage, a two-dimensional constant-weight sparse modulation code is proposed. The evaluation criteria and design rules are investigated based on the page-oriented optical data storage system. Coding parameters are optimized to achieve large channel capacities. An 8:16 modulation code is designed to reduce the raw bit error rate and its performances are experimentally evaluated. A raw bit error rate of the magnitude of 10−4 is obtained with a single-data-page storage and 10−3 with multiplexing.

Nonlinear response studies and corrections for a liquid crystal spatial light modulator

The nonlinear response of light transmission characteristics of a liquid crystal (LC) spatial light modulator (SLM) is studied. The results show that the device exhibits a wide range of variations with different control parameters and input settings. Experiments were performed to obtain intensity modulation that is best described by either power-law or sigmoidal functions. Based on the inverse transformation, an appropriate pre-processing scheme for electrically addressed input gray-scale images, particularly important in several optical processing and imaging applications, is suggested. Further, the necessity to compensate the SLM image nonlinearities in a volume holographic data storage and retrieval system is demonstrated.

Reliability of content-addressable data search in a defocused volume holographic data storage system

We investigate for suitable methods that enable reliable content-addressable data search in a defocused volume holographic data storage system. Two techniques have been introduced and are shown to overcome the shortcomings of the known methods used to perform content searching in defocused holographic recording geometry. In effect, we remove the deterministic errors that result because of the presence of nonmatching database records, producing almost the same correlation scores as the true targeted correlation scores. Such deterministic errors give rise to erroneous search outcomes and reduce the speed advantage of the parallel holographic data search. We present experimental results and discuss the improvements offered by the two introduced methods in terms of storage density and measured correlation scores. Both the methods of modified-balanced and 25% sparse modulation coded data pages are found to produce good results, negating the undesired correlation characteristics.

An irgacure 784 doped photopolymers for display holograms recording at 532 nm

This paper presents an investigation on the preparation and characterization of thick photopolymers for display holograms recording at 532 nm. Based on our previous research on fabrication and characterization of the doped photopolymer for volume holographic data storage, we develop a new large size Irgacure 784 doped epoxy resin photopolymer plate for display holograms recording in this research. The material system consists of two sub-systems. The first one is the epoxy resin polymer matrix, which provides a strong material structure so that the optical induced shrinkage during hologram recording can be minimized. The second part consists of photosensitive elements, which are uniformly dispersed in the epoxy resin to provide a mechanism for holograms recording. Material fabrication technique and the characteristics including absorption spectra, dynamic range and recording sensitivity are reported in this paper. Successful recording and reconstruction of a Fresnel hologram of the transmission type in a photopolymer plate of size 20 cm × 30 cm demonstrates the feasibility of display holograms recording in this material.

The volume holographic optical storage potential in azobenzene containing polymers

Volume holographic data storage is one of the most promising techniques to improve both the storage capacity of devices and the transfer data rate. Among the materials proposed as storage data media, azobenzene containing polymers have received much attention. Some of their properties seem to be suitable for holographic storage applications. However, they still present several problems, mainly those related with light sensitivity, response time and stability of the stored information. In this article we review the work performed on volume holographic storage using azobenzene containing polymers as well as the different approaches that have been proposed to overcome those problems.

Improved data search by zero-order (dc) peak filtering in a defocused volume holographic content-addressable memory

Defocusing the recording material away from the Fourier plane is necessary to reduce the strong dc component and produce a more homogeneous object beam distribution in the hologram plane in volume holographic digital data-storage systems with amplitude-modulated data pages. However, content-addressable searching with defocused recording results in higher cross-correlation peak intensities. We present a method for performing a faithful content-addressable search in a defocused volume holographic data-storage system. A new dc-filtered content-addressable search method for defocused volume holographic data-storage systems with binary data pages is demonstrated. Both simulation and experimental results are presented. The experimental results show good discrimination capability and confirm the feasibility of the proposed technique.

Overloaded phase-code multiplexing for volume holographic storage

Overloaded phase codes for volume holographic data storage are introduced. In contrast to any previous phase-code design, overloaded phase codes enable multiplexing of a number of data pages that exceeds the number of utilized reference beams. In this way the achievable data capacity can be augmented. Overloaded codes are generated by extending multilevel phase codes based on the discrete Fourier transform. We demonstrate multiplexing of 70 analog pages by means of 64 reference beams. The analysis of reconstructed digital data pages suggests that a capacity gain of up to 15% is reasonable.

Application of Lippmann interference photography to data storage

Lippmann’s interference photography is an elegant process to record coloured images in the volume of a sensitive material. We propose to use this technique for wavelength multiplexed data storage in a page-oriented approach. Using computer simulations, we demonstrate that the capacities reached with this technique are similar to those reached by volume holographic data storage.

Fabrication and characterization of poly(methyl methacrylate) photopolymer doped with 9,10-phenanthrenequinone (PQ) based derivatives for volume holographic data storage

We present our studies on the photopolymer of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) doped with 9,10-phenanthrenequinone based derivatives for volume holographic storage. By introducing different functional groups on the side-chain of 9,10-phenanthrenequinone molecule, the holographic characteristics of the material can be modified. The photoreaction involved with the holographic recording in the samples was investigated by measuring UV–Vis absorption spectrum and mass spectrum. The experimental results show that the similar behaviors were exhibited in these photopolymers. It is found that phase hologram recording in our PQ derivatives doped PMMA photopolymer involves a structure change of the quinone based molecule, which induces a strong change of the refractive index. Experimental characterizations on holographic data storage, including material sensitivity, dynamic range ( M#) and bit-error-rate have been performed. We found that, by selecting appropriate functional groups, an improvement in sensitivity and M# for holographic data storage can be achieved.

Performance analysis of content-addressable search and bit-error rate characteristics of a defocused volume holographic data storage system

One of the methods for smoothing the high intensity dc peak in the Fourier spectrum for reducing the reconstruction error in a Fourier transform volume holographic data storage system is to record holograms some distance away from or in front of the Fourier plane. We present the results of our investigation on the performance of such a defocused holographic data storage system in terms of bit-error rate and content search capability. We have evaluated the relevant recording geometry through numerical simulation, by obtaining the intensity distribution at the output detector plane. This has been done by studying the bit-error rate and the content search capability as a function of the aperture size and position of the recording material away from the Fourier plane.

Holographic diffraction gratings with enhanced sensitivity based on epoxy-resin photopolymers

Photopolymers are interesting materials to obtain high-quality performance for the volume holographic data storage with a low noise and high diffraction efficiency. In this paper, the recording of holographic diffraction gratings with a spatial frequency of 1285lines/mm in photopolymerizable epoxy resin materials is experimentally demonstrated. Diffraction efficiency near 92% and an energetic sensitivity of 11.7 x 10-3cm2/J are achieved by designing the proper structure of matrix and also optimizing photopolymer compositions. The effect of photopolymer compositions on the fundamental optical properties is also discussed.

Decryption of a random-phase multiplexing recording system

In practice, decrypting a random-phase encrypted volume holographic data storage system is impossible unless the original random-phase plate for the encryption is available. However, this study demonstrates that under certain conditions, ways are available that can decrypt an encrypted photorefractive LiNbO3 crystal holographic storage system. In addition to presenting experimental results that show the efficacy of this decryption approach, problems and difficulties in the experiments are discussed.

Miniaturized volume holographic optical data storage and correlation system with a storage density of 10 Gb/cm3

The general idea of holographic optical data storage (HODS) is briefly introduced. Based on the recent advances of HODS, the key techniques and the challenges of HODS are discussed. Some new techniques are proposed to improve the system. A miniaturized volume holographic data storage and correlation system is presented. It can achieve a density of 10 Gb/cm3 and a fast correlation recognition rate of more than 2000 images per second. It shows the attracting potential advantages over other conventional storage methods in the information storage as well as information processing.

Polytopic multiplexing.

Polytopic multiplexing is a new method of overlapping holograms that, when combined with other multiplexing techniques, can increase the capacity of a volume holographic data storage system by more than a factor of 10. This is because the method makes possible the effective utilization of thick media. An experimental demonstration of this technique is also presented.

Miniaturized volume holographic optical data storage and correlation system with a storage density of 10 Gb/cm3

Miniaturized volume holographic optical data storage and correlation system with a storage density of 10 Gb/cm3

Improvement of photorefractive properties and holographic applications of lithium niobate crystal

Based on analyzing and synthesizing the effects of In doping, Fe doping and oxidation state, we propose an efficient way to improve photorefractive properties of LiNbO3 crystal. According to the proposed way, a sample of In:Fe:LiNbO3 crystal is grown and achieves larger dynamic range, higher sensitivity and better signal-to-noise ratio thanFe:LiNbO3 crystal (Fe:0.03wt.%) that is generally considered as a preferable storage medium for high-density holographic data storage. In a coherent volume 0.074cm3 of this crystal, 2030 holograms have been successfully multiplexed and exactly identified in a compact volume holographic data storage and correlation recognition system.