Fabrication and characterization of poly(methyl methacrylate) photopolymer doped with 9,10-phenanthrenequinone (PQ) based derivatives for volume holographic data storage

We present our studies on the photopolymer of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) doped with 9,10-phenanthrenequinone based derivatives for volume holographic storage. By introducing different functional groups on the side-chain of 9,10-phenanthrenequinone molecule, the holographic characteristics of the material can be modified. The photoreaction involved with the holographic recording in the samples was investigated by measuring UV-Vis absorption spectrum and mass spectrum. The experimental results show that the similar behaviors were exhibited in these photopolymers. It is found that phase hologram recording in our PQ derivatives doped PMMA photopolymer involves a structure change of the quinone based molecule, which induces a strong change of the refractive index. Experimental characterizations on holographic data storage, including material sensitivity, dynamic range (M#) and bit-error-rate have been performed. We found that, by selecting appropriate functional groups, an improvement in sensitivity and M# for holographic data storage can be achieved.     

Hologram multiplexing in a highly photosensitive photopolymerizable material in a sol-gel matrix

In this paper, we present a photopolymerizable material in a sol-gel matrix suitable for recording a large number of multiplexed diffraction gratings with low total exposure energy. The matrix of this material is an inorganic porous silica glass, a material that does not shrink when radical photopolymerization is initiated. The photosensitive component is based on acrylamide, N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide, triethanolamine and yellow eosine as a photoinitiator. In the reported study, 50 holograms were angularly multiplexed with diffraction efficiencies between 0.1 and 1.9% resulting in a dynamic range of M/# = 3.9. The total exposure was 4.5 mJ/cm² and the energy used in recording each hologram was 95 μJ/cm². This indicates a very high sensitivity for this material in the range of 3.3 to 15.5 cm/mJ. Due to this good holographic performance, the material is suitable for holographic data storage applications.     

Experimental study of multiplexed holographic gratings recorded in a photopolymerizable silica glass

Recently the capability of photopolymerizable sol–gel materials to angular multiplex holographic gratings has been demonstrated [1, 2]. In this study, holographic transmission gratings were recorded using angular multiplexing in a silica glass doped photopolymer holographic recording material. The time interval between exposures and the angular selectivity were analyzed, in particular their effects on the dynamic range. By using the optimal parameters gratings of similar response were achieved with values of M/#=4.8, as well as good values of diffraction efficiency with high photosensitivity. PACS 42.40.Pa; 42.70.Ln     

利用菌紫质薄膜进行角度复用和偏振复用全息存储实验研究

全息光存储以其高密度、大容量、高速并行数据存取而成为光存储领域的一个重要研究方向。生物光致变色材料———菌紫质是一种新型可擦重写全息记录介质。实验证明了使用菌紫质薄膜进行角度复用和偏振复用全息存储的可行性。利用菌紫质的光致变色特性,采用90°角度复用全息存储光路,在BR-D96N薄膜样品同一位置上实现了6幅全息图存储,并分别读出了无串扰的再现像。利用菌紫质薄膜的光致各向异性进行了偏振复用全息存储,在BR-D96N薄膜样品的同一位置上存储了两幅正交偏振光记录的图像,用原参考光再现和偏振片选择,可分别读出这两幅图像。     

Coaxial holographic data storage without recording the dc components

A technique of recovering the data pages from Fourier holograms recorded without the dc components is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally by use of a coaxial holographic storage system. A reconstructed image is obtained by adding a phase-modulated dc component of the signal beam on reading. The bit error rate of the reconstructed image is comparable with that for the hologram recorded with the dc component as well. Since high intensities of the dc components are not recorded in this technique, the dynamic range of the recording media can be saved, which potentially contributes to increasing the number of multiplexed holograms.     

Evaluation of polycarbonate substrate hologram recording medium regarding implication of birefringence and thermal expansion

In this paper, we evaluate photopolymer media using a polycarbonate (PC) substrate. In holographic data storage medium, substrates that sandwich the photopolymer material are needed to protect the photopolymer material against exogenous shock and open air. An optical glass such as BK-7 is normally used as a substrate, but a PC substrate has a cost advantage and is easy to fabricate compared with optical glass. For holographic recording and reading, however, the high birefringence and high thermal expansion of a PC substrate are significant problems. First, we analyze the degree of degradation of output power by the polarization change and estimate the threshold value of birefringence to record hologram normally. Next, we estimate the temperature tolerance of hologram readout with polycarbonate substrate hologram medium. These analyses results indicate the possible usage of the PC substrate as holographic recording media.     

Photorefractive recording in LiNbO(3):Mn

The dynamic range, sensitivity, and dark decay of holographic recording of wavelength 458 nm in LiNbO(3) crystals doped with 0.2-at. % Mn with different oxidation states have been measured. The measured sensitivity is 0.5 cm/J and is found to be independent of the oxidation state, and the largest M/# obtained is 12/mm (extraordinary light polarization; light wavelength, 458 nm). This combination of very large M/# and high sensitivity is in strong contrast with results for LiNbO(3):Fe for which a direct trade-off exists between M/# and sensitivity. The activation energy of the dark decay of holograms stored in these LiNbO(3):Mn crystals is ~1.0 eV , which is characteristic of proton compensation and leads to a projected lifetime of holograms of three years at room temperature.     

Investigation of nonvolatile holographic storage in LiNbO3:Mn:Ce:Fe crystal

We investigate the persistent holographic recording in triply doped LiNbO₃:Mn:Ce:Fe crystals at different oxidation/reduction states. The experimental results show that there is an optimum oxidation/reduction state, which results in the best dynamic range M/#. Compared with doubly doped LiNbO₃:Ce:Fe, we found that the nonvolatile diffraction efficiency and the best dynamic range M/# obtained in triply doped samples are larger than that obtained in doubly doped samples. The reason for the increase of the crystal about the nonvolatile diffraction efficiency and the dynamic range M/# was also explained.     

Media tilt tolerance of bit-based and page-based holographic storage systems

Tilt tolerance of media is compared for bit-based and page-based holographic storage systems having an equal diffraction efficiency per bit detector, dynamic range of the medium, and surface recording density. We have formalized the diffraction efficiency degradation caused by aberrations of a reconstructing reference beam induced by tilt of the medium, using a coupled wave theory in the Fourier domain. The bit-based holographic storage system has a larger media tilt tolerance compared with a page-based system with relatively large page size.     

Transmission type twisted nematic liquid crystal display for three gray-level phase-modulated holographic data storage systems

Gray-level data pages enhance the storage capacity of holographic data storage systems. A balanced three gray-scale data page in phase mode produces a homogenized Fourier spectrum which is regarded to be necessary for suitable exploitation of the holographic recording medium. A commercially available transmission type twisted nematic liquid crystal display has been characterized for use as a phase spatial light modulator with phase modulation in the range 0–3π/2 at 532 nm wavelength, such that it may be used for holographic data storage with binary as well as three gray-level phase-modulated data pages. Experimental results of the phase and amplitude modulation characteristics of the SLM, Fourier plane homogeneity, and recording of phase-modulated binary, three gray-level data pages and their reconstruction with a real-time holographic interferometric method are presented.     

BR-D96N薄膜共线全息图像存储实验研究

摘要:     利用一种生物光致变色材料—基因突变菌紫质BR-D96N薄膜的光致变色特性,实现了可擦写式共线全息图像存储实验.对于光密度为3.0的BR-D96N薄膜,在700 mW/cm2的记录光强下（波长为632.8 nm,物光、参考光光强比为约1:1.2）,全息图建立的最佳曝光时间约为3s,最佳再现光强约为50 mW/cm2,全息图寿命约为10 min.实验表明：共线全息存储技术光学系统简单,系统体积小,受存储环境的影响低,并能够实现高密度存储|同时也实验验证了BR-D96N薄膜具有响应速度快,感光灵敏度高,擦写次数高,稳定耐用,使用方便等优点,可以作为一种较灵敏的可擦写共线全息记录介质.     

Holographic testing of fluorescent photosensitive glass-ceramics

In this paper we investigate the holographic recording properties of the fluorescent photosensitive glass-ceramics. The materials described here, stable up to 400 °C, represent a substantial advancement in the development of long lifetime media for holographic data storage. A detailed physical-chemical characterization of the proposed material is presented. It is shown that volume holograms were obtained after the recording process using a continuum high power laser in an off-axis setup.     

Nonvolatile two-color holographic recording in near-stoichiometric lithium niobate crystals gated by incoherent ultraviolet light

Nonvolatile two-color holographic recording gated by incoherent ultraviolet （UV） light centered at 365 nm is investigated in near-stoichiometric lithium niobate crystals. The influence of thermal treatment on the two-color recording is studied. The results show that thermal reduction tends to improve the two-color recording performance, whereas thermal oxidation degrades the two-color recording. With an incoherent 0.2-W/cm2 UV gating light and a 0.25-W/cm2 semiconductor recording laser at 780 nm, a two-color recording sensitivity of 4 × 10^-3 cm/J and a recording dynamic range characterized by M/# of 0.12 are achieved in a 2.2-mm thermally reduced near-stoichiometric lithium niobate crystal. We attribute the improvement to the prolonged lifetime of small polarons and the increased absorption at the gating wavelength due to thermal reduction.     

The Current Status of the Development of Light-Sensitive Media for Holography (a Review)

The results of studies that have been performed over the last decade in the field of development of silver halide and nonsilver holographic recording media of organic and inorganic origin are analyzed. It is shown that previously developed materials mainly allow the development of holographic investigations. Among irreversible materials, considerable progress has been made in improving the characteristics of photopolymerizable recording media, which has allowed their use in color image holography and 3D optical archive-type memory, as well as for fabricating holographic optical elements. In the field of improving the properties of reversible holographic recording media, practically significant results have been obtained for the creation of photoanisotropic materials based on azo dyes experiencing cis–trans photoisomerization, which allow the recording of polarization holograms. The needs of dynamic holography have been satisfied by lightsensitive doped inorganic crystals and polymer layers that have been created with nonlinear optical properties.     

New photopolymerizable holographic recording material based on polyvinylalcohol and 2-hydroxiethylmethacrylate (HEMA)

We have developed a new polyvinylalcohol-based photopolymeric holographic recording material. The recording is obtained by the copolymerization of acrylamide and 2-hydroxiethylmethacrylate (HEMA). Diffraction efficiencies near 70% are obtained with exposures of ≈65 mJ/cm² in materials of 110-μm thickness. The addition of HEMA increases the thickness of the film, which results in improved storage capacity for holographic optical storage. Received: 7 March 2002 / Published online: 2 May 2002     

Realization of the linear regression model by Fourier holography: Effect of filtering caused by nonlinear characteristics of holographic recording medium on the process characteristics

The effect of filtering that arises in the scheme of 4f Fourier holography due to the boundedness of the dynamic range of holographic recording medium on the statistical characteristics of a random process, as applied to the realization of the linear predictor model, has been investigated. The numerical simulation has been performed using filter models adequate to the real characteristics of holographic recording media. Dependences relating the stationarity estimate with the process and filter characteristics are obtained.     

菌紫质高密度偏振全息光数据存储实验研究

实验研究了基因改性菌紫质BR_D96N薄膜在不同偏振光记录下的全息存储特性，比较了不同 偏振态记录光和读出光对衍射像光强及信噪比的影响. 实验结果表明，与其他偏振全息记录 相比，正交圆偏振光记录可实现衍射光偏振状态与散射噪声偏振状态的分离，得到高信噪比 的衍射像，同时还具有高的衍射效率. 以 He_Ne 激光器（633nm，3mW）为记录和读出光源 ，用空间光调制器作为数据输入元件，CCD作为数据读出器件，采用傅里叶变换全息记录的 方法，在 BR_D96N 薄膜样品60μm×42μm的面积上进行了正交圆偏振全息数据存储，达到 了2×10⁸bit/cm²的存储面密度，并实现了编码数据的无误读出与 还原. 关键词： 菌紫质 偏振全息 光致变色 光致各向异性 高密度光存储     

Characterization of phenanthrenequinone-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) for holographic memory

The holographic recording characteristics of phenanthrenequinone- (PQ-) doped poly(methyl methacrylate) are investigated. The exposure sensitivity is characterized for single-hologram recording, and the M/# is measured for samples as thick as 3 mm. Optically induced birefringence is observed in this material.     

Improvement of holographic recording property of a Ce: KNSBN crystal by the moving grating technique

The moving grating technique is applied to improve the holographic recording property of the Ce: KNSBN crystal. In the case of extraordinarily polarized recording, the diffraction efficiency at large fringe modulations is enhanced by a factor of up to 35% at the optimum fringe velocity and the fringe modulation dynamic range is improved from m = 0.2 to m = 0.6. In the case of ordinarily polarized recording, a linear holographic reconstruction in the range of m ≤ 0.8 can be achieved by the moving grating at a fringe velocity of 9.6 nm/s. These results are significant in holography where a grey-level object needs to be recorded and reconstructed with high fidelity.     

Signal quality improvement of holographic data storage using adaptive two-dimensional filter

Holographic data storage is being widely studied for the purpose of developing next-generation large optical memories. A prospective use of this type of memory is in building image archives in large-scale data centers. In particular, demand for energy conservation at data centers, and therefore for holographic data storage, is growing. In holographic data storage, interference between bits occurs owing to wave aberration in the optical system, shrinkage of the medium, and crosstalk noise from neighboring holograms during multiplex recording; as a result of the interference, the reproduced image deteriorates and the bit error rate (BER) increases. In this study, to reduce the BER in both off-axis-type recording and coaxial-type recording, a two-dimensional finite impulse response (FIR) filter is applied to a reproduced image that has been recorded by angle multiplex recording and shift multiplex recording. First, for the optimization of the FIR filter coefficients, the linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) method is applied; this method optimizes the coefficients by reducing the BER. Furthermore, for evaluating the optimization performance of the LMMSE method, the optimization performance is compared with that of the real-coded genetic algorithm (RCGA), which has the capability to search a wide range of coefficients. The optimization by the LMMSE method has been found to be excellent for off-axis-type recording but not for coaxial-type recording. It is speculated that this is because of the brightness irregularity in the reproduced image, resulting from crosstalk. On the other hand, a marked reduction in the BER is observed using the RCGA, despite the brightness irregularity. In this study, the effectiveness of the LMMSE method for signals recorded by coaxial-type recording, in which large brightness irregularity is expected, is examined using automatic gain control (AGC). It is found that the application of AGC reduces the BER even in the case of coaxial-type recording.