BRAGG-FILTERS USING HIGH-SCATTERING EFFICIENCY VOLUME HOLOGRAPHIC RECORDING GLASS

IT HAS RECENTLY BEEN SHOWN THAT AMORPHOUS SOLIDS CAN BE UTILIZED AS VOLUME HOLOGRAPHIC RECORDING MEDIA USING SUFFICIENTLY INTENSE WRITE BEAMS AT APPROPRIATE WAVELENGTH(S). THE COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL FOR PASSIVE MICRO-OPTICAL COMPONENTS MANUFACTURED FORM THE GLASSY STATE IS SIGNIFICANT. GLASS CAN BE EASILY SHAPED, WORKED, READILY DRAWN INTO FIBER AND OTHER OPTICVAL WAVEGIUIDE STRUCTURES, AND VOLUME MANUFACTURED AT LOW COST. PERMANENT HOLOGRAPHIC GRATINGS INDUCED IN GLASS CAN BE OPTICALLY OR THERMALLY ERASED WITHOUT DAMAGING THE MATERIAL, SUGGESTING A POTENTIAL APPLICATION IN ALL-OPTICAL READ/WRITE ERASE THREE-DIMENSIONAL MEMORY ARCHITECTURES. IN ORDER TO TAP THE FULL POTENTIAL FOR BRAGG-FILTER DEVICES FABRICATED WITH GLASS A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES MUST BE OVERCOME. ORDER OF MAGNITUDE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE GRATINGS' SCATTERING EFFICIENCIES MUST BE ACHIEVED TO PRODUCE TECHNICALLY APPEALING PASSIVE OR ACTIVE OPTICAL COMPONENTS. UNFORTUNATELY, THE PHYSICAL MECHANISM(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR GRATING FORMATION AND RELATED PHENOMENA IN GLASS AND OPTICAL FIBER CANNOT BE READILY EXPLAINED USING CONVENTIONAL SOLID STATE OPTICS THEORY APPLIED TO CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THOSE CHALLENGES BY REVIEWING AND IDENTIFYING PHYSICAL MECHANISMS ALREADY KNOWN TO PARTICIPATE IN GRATING INFORMATION. IT ADVANCES A NEW THEORY AND AND REPRESENTS RESEARCH IN A NEW FIELD OF SOLID STATE MATERIAL SCIENCE. AN EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO CONCLUSIVELY DERTERMINE THE VALIDITY OF THIS MODEL IN PHASE I.