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Advanced Materials

Present limits of data storage using dye molecules in solid matrices

Rong Ao, L. Kümmerl, D. Haarer

Published May 1, 1995• 157 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optical data storage offers the potential advantages of high storage densities, fewer mechanical problems, low reading and writing energies, ruggedness, and higher data rates. Currently, the only true photonic optical storage medium is the spectral hole burning scheme. The features of the technique are presented, the materials (e.g. see figure) and necessary laser technology presented, and a view is given of the prospects and requirements for future commercial development. magnified image

DOI
10.1002/adma.19950070522

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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Jan 1, 1983•1 citation
Optical data storage offers the potential advantages of high storage densities, fewer mechanical problems, low reading and writing energies, ruggedness, and higher data rates. Currently, the only true photonic optical storage medium is the spectral hole burning scheme. The features of the technique are presented, the materials (e.g. see figure) and necessary laser technology presented, and a view is given of the prospects and requirements for future commercial development. magnified image
The use of persistent spectral hole burning in optical data storage allows an increase of the storage density up to a factor of 1000 compared to the common spatial matrix of optical bits.1 The information is stored by burning at low temperature a sequence of narrow spectral holes in the inhomogeneously broadened optical transition of optical centers, e.g. dye molecules embedded in an amorphous polymer, with a tunable narrow-bandwidth laser. One bit of information is encoded by the presence or absence of a hole at a given location in frequency space. The information is read by observing the absorption or the fluorescence of the storage material using a laser with tunable frequency. One of the problems of spectral hole burning data storage arises from the fact that for addressing the memory locations the laser frequency has to be changed over a large frequency range with high accuracy and speed.
Persistent spectral hole-burning (PHB, also called photochemical hole-burning) permits use of the optical frequency for encoding digital information through the presence and absence of spectral holes that are burned in inhomogeneously broadened absorption lines at low (liquid helium) temperatures. The optical frequency or wavelength at which a given hole is burned acts as an additional dimension for data storage, hence this optical recording scheme has been called Frequency Domain Optical Storage (FDOS). The combination of spectral and spatial data-recording can make storage densities in excess of 1010 bits/cm2 possible; furthermore, since rotation of the recording medium is not necessary, shorter random access times will result. The future success of the FDOS concept will rely on progress in several technological and engineering areas as well as on advances in several critical materials areas1.
To determine the complete set of required materials properties for a viable frequency-domain optical-storage system based on persistent spectral hole burning, we have performed analytic and computer simulations of the writing performance, signal-to-noise ratio, and number of reads that can be obtained from single-photon or monophotonic (no threshold) hole-burning mechanisms with realistic spot sizes and reading and writing times. We find that acceptable reading performance occurs only for materials with high quantum efficiencies, low absorption cross sections, and high solubilities. This work for the first time clearly defines the parameter space of single-photon materials that can be utilized in a frequency-domain optical-storage system.
Persistent spectral hole-burning and photon echoes can provide insight into the dynamics of amorphous and crystalline materials on the molecular/atomic level. Part of the current interest in these methods, however, is also caused by the existence of potential applications in optical data storage and processing. At present it may be difficult to specify exactly at what applications these techniques should try to target but, based on current research efforts and results, it appears that persistent spectral hole burning is a possible candidate for high density, possibly long time, volumetric storage, while photon echoes have properties more attractive for short time storage or storage connected to processing applications.
One of the most attractive features of an optical memory is its ability to write and read data in a bit-parallel format, giving rise to theoretically very high (in excess of 1 Gbps) data transfer rates. However, such a potential has not been demonstrated experimentally because of various inherent technical difficulties associated with existing optical storage techniques. In a photorefractive or a persistent spectral hole-burning (PSHB) memory, for example, the time required to record one page varies from a fraction of a second to several seconds.1-3 For a page containing 1000 × 1000 bits of data, it translates to a bandwidth of approximately 1 Mbps, substantially slower than any existing semiconductor memories.
One very exciting application of laser spectroscopy would be to use the high-resolution capabilities of today’s lasers and the phenomenon of persistent spectral hole-burning to form a frequency domain optical storage system.1 In such a system, bits of information would be stored by locally modifying (in the frequency domain) the shape of an inhomogeneously broadened absorption line of an absorber in a solid at low temperatures. Because typical homogeneous widths are 1000X (or more) narrower than typical inhomogeneous widths, as many as 1000 bits could be written in one diffraction-limited 1-μm spot In a sample, yielding the impressive storage density of 1011 bits/cm2.