MATERIAL STRUCTURES FOR 3-DIMENSIONAL NON-VOLATILE MASS STORAGE

A NEW OPTICAL RECORDING MEDIUM CONCEPT IS PROPOSED WHICH FEATURES HIGH ACCESSIBILITY AND HIGH DATA RATE CAPABILITY. THE MATERIAL STRUCTURE CONSISTS OF A STACK OF PLANAR DYE-IN-POLYMER LAYERS SUITABLE PHASED TO OBTAIN "VOLUME LIKE" MEDIUM BEHAVIOR. THE PROPOSED MATERIAL WILL BE SUITABLE FOR HOLOGRAPHIC DATA RECORDING AT VERY HIGH DENSITIES, HAS A READ-WRITE-ERASE CAPABILITY, REQUIRES NO WET PROCESSING, IS VERY STABLE, AND LENDS ITSELF TO MASS PRODUCTION AT VERY LOW COST AND IN VERY LARGE SIZES. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO ANSWER KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BILAYER POLYMER MATERIAL AS A HOLOGRAPHIC GRATINGS, FOR THE FIRST TIME, ON A PLANAR POLYMER MEDIUM USING A HIGH POWER LASER DIODE. THE MEDIUM WILL BE CHARACTERIZED IN TERMS OF RESOLUTION, SENSITIVITY, AND DIFFRACTION EFFICIENCY. IN ADDITION WE WILL SIMULATE THE PERFORMANCE OF A STACK OF PLANAR POLYMER GRATINGS USING OUR BEAM PROPAGATION METHOD PROGRAM. THE SIMULATION WILL PROVIDE DATA FOR THE DESIGN OF VOLUME LIKE MEDIUM NAMELY: THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF LAYERS, THE SPACING BETWEEN LAYERS AND THE DEFORMATION OF THE LAYERS.