Optical Storage: Science and Technology

Abstract

In this paper, various aspects of optical storage have been reviewed. First, the author introduces storage needs which will continue to grow exponentially. The advancement of Internet and computer software will accelerate the increase of manageable data and the large storage requirements. This paper introduces discussion topics such as applications, recording density limits and the progress of science and technology. The possibility of optical dynamic random access memory (ORAM) is mentioned in relation to memory hierarchy. To overcome the density growth limit many kinds of attempts have been made including introduction of super resolution, flying head recording, near field recording and dynamic spatial phase control recording. In the future, optical storage with a high recording density of 100 Gbit per square-inch and new amplification or enhancing mechanisms for writing and reading of tiny marks will be important. The author has raised the above issues which will be discussed.

Electron beam induced SiO2 etch selectivity and its application to oxide nano-aperture formation

“…However the weak near-field intensity has been major obstacle for its application. Related with data storage using near-field optical recording [7][8][9], the low optical power from the probe limits the scanning speed and a parallel processing technique using near-field probe array has been regarded as a most strong candidates for the faster data scan rate [9,10]. The fabrication technique for nanoaperture arrays on oxide pyramids using isotropic HF wet etching has been reported as a practical way of producing array-type near-field optical probe [11,12].…”

Optimisation of photonic crystal coupling through waveguide design

“…GaN is the material of choice for short wavelength lasers *400 nm. This has been primarily targeted for applications in optical data storage, displays, and biomedical applications (Mitsuhashi 1997;Lefevre 2014). Incorporating a photonic crystal within a GaN laser structure would allow the aforementioned advantages of PCSELs to be realised at these wavelengths.…”

“…Short wavelengths are desirable for many applications including 405 nm for optical data storage (Mitsuhashi 1997), laser lighting, and biomedical applications (Brezinski 2006). 1.3 and 1.55 lm lasers are the workhorses of optical communications and optical gyroscopes (Lefevre 2014) because of the dispersion and absorption properties of silica fibre (Mitschke 2009).…”

Three-dimensional optical storage recording by microexplosion in a doped PMMA polymer

“…Therefore, to realize much higher storage density, many novel technique such as photo-chemical hole burning [1], holographic recording [2], near-field optical storage [3] and three-dimensional recording by two-photon absorption ( TPA ) [4] or by multi-photon absorption ( MPA ) [5] have been studied. Three-dimensional ( 3D ) optical data storage does not only give rise to an increase in the density of data storage capable of being stored in a material, but also has the promise of pageoriented high-speed parallel access and compatibleness with emerging parallel array processors and opto-electronic multiprocessors [6].…”