VOLUME HOLOGRAPHIC, RANDOM ACCESS, NO MOVING PARTS READ-ONLY MEMORY DEMONSTRATION

RECENT WORK IN VOLUME HOLOGRAPHY HAS LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE ORTHOGONAL DATA STORAGE TECHNIQUE. THIS METHOD OF HOLOGRAPHIC DATA RECORDING REDUCES THE CROSSTALK BETWEEN CHANNELS BY STORING MANY WAVELENGTH MULTIPLEXED IMAGES IN A PARTICULARLY EFFECTIVE USE OF K-SPACE. FURTHER REDUCTION IN CROSSTALK IS OBSERVED IN HOLOGRAMS STORED IN CERTAIN PHOTOREFRACTIVE CRYSTALS USING THE COUNTER-PROPAGATING GEOMETRY OF ORTHOGONAL DATA STORAGE BECAUSE OF SELF-INDUCED SIDELOBE SUPPRESSION. PERMANENT DATA STORAGE AND ROOM TEMPERATURE OPERATION IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THESE CRYSTALS. THUS, THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK OUTLINED IN THIS PROPOSAL IS TO IDENTIFY AND CHARACTERIZE WHICH PHOTOREFRACTIVE CRYSTALS ARE BEST SUITED FOR USE WITH THE ORTHOGONAL DATA STORAGE METHOD IN A CROSSTALK-FREE, 3D OPTICAL MEMORY. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - SUCCESS IN THIS RESEARCH PROJECT COULD LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF VERY LARGE STORAGE CAPACITY, FAST ACCESS 3D OPTICAL MEMORIES FOR USE WITH ULTRA-FAST COMPUTERS, PARALLEL PROCESSORS, IMAGING EQUIPMENT, AND VIDEO DISPLAYS. COMMERCIAL APPLICATION OF SUCH DEVICES COULD RANGE FROM DIGITAL HDTV VIDEO RECORDERS FOR THE HOME TO MASSIVE COMPUTER DATA STORAGE BANKS FOR INDUSTRY.