A Seminar on : HOLOGRAPHIC MEMEORY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION

ENGINEERING

Submitted by:

Name : HARIHARAN T

Reg no : 18TC0001

Academic Year : 2021 - 2022

Under the Guidance of : Mr.P.SANKARANARAYANAN M.E., MBA., Ph.d

BHARATHIYAR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

KARAIKAL – 609609 (U.T OF PUDUCHERRY)

February : 2022
 PREFACE

I have made this report file on the topic Holographic Memory; I have tried my best to elucidate
all the relevant detail to the topic to be included in the report. While in the beginning I have tried
to give a general view about this topic.

My efforts and wholehearted co-corporation of each and everyone has ended on a successful
note. I express my sincere gratitude to Mr.P.SANKARANARAYANAN M.E., MBA., Ph.d
who assisting me throughout the preparation of this topic. I thank him for providing me the
reinforcement, confidence and most importantly the track for the topic whenever I needed it.
 ABSTRACT

In data storing technologies, high data density per volume and high data transfer speed,
both are highly demanded. There are two types of data storing devices that are magnetic
and optical. Now a day optical devices are more preferable as they support more data
transfer speed.
A Holographic Memory is an optical data storing technology which gives these both
features that are high data density per volume and high data transfer speed. In this report
it is explained that how it is getting these much data density and high data transfer speed
by using components like spatial light modulator (SLM), multiplexing agent, lenses and
charge coupled device (CCD).
Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) is an example of holographic memory. In this
entire volume of disc is used to store data as interference pattern of signal beam and
reference beam is to be stored which increases data density per volume.

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 INDEX

SI No. Content PageNo.

Preface i
Abstract ii
Index iii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Brief History 2
1.2 What is Holography? 2
1.3 Recording and Reading of Hologram 2
1.4 Holography Vs. Photography 4
1.5 Applications of Holography 4
2 Holographic Memory 5
2.1 Roadmap of Memory 5
2.2 Recording to HVD 6
2.3 Reading from HVD 7
3 Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) Components 8
3.1 Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) 8
3.2 Multiplexing Agent 10
3.3 Storage Medium 10
3.4 Charge Coupled Device (CCD) 10
4 Advanced HVD 11
4.1 Comparison 11
4.2 Advantages and Drawbacks 12
4.3 Potential Competitors 12
4.4 Companies working on Holographic Memory 12
5 Holographic memory vs. existing memory technology 13

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6 Holographic memory 14
7 Molecular memory 18
8 Collinear system 22
9 Collinearholographic media evaluation system s-vrd tm 24
10 Conclusion 24
11 References 25

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1.INTRODUCTION
We know that data storing capacity of processors and buses roughly double every three years,
data storage has struggled to close the gap. CPU is shaving capacity of executing instructions at
every nanosecond. Single magnetic disk is required almost six times more time than this CPU
execution speed. There are so many research been done to lose this gap between CPUs and data
storage. Pipelining, cache, optimizing compilers and RAM are some advances of these type.
For almost two decades for data storing devices are used that use light for storing and reading
data. In the early 1980’s revolution happens in data storing field as a Compact Disc (CD) which
is having 12 centimetres of diameter and 1.2 millimetres of thickness. These CDs allows
multimegabit of data to be stored on disc. Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) is an improved version
of CD which was invented in 1997. The full-length movie can be stored a single DVD.

At initial level CDs and DVDs are famous to store data like music, personal computing,
software and video. A CD is having capacity of data storing up to 783 megabytes, which is
almost equal to one hour and 15 minutes of music. DVDs which are double-sided, double- layer
having data storing capacity of 15.9 GB, which is approximately 8 hours of movie. Today’s
needs are met by these conventional storage mediums, but consumer demands also increases so
companies working on storage technologies have to make changes to keep pace. In these all
technologies data is stored bit by bit on a recording medium.

However, technology is either optical or magnetic, data is combination of bits and each bit is
stored as distinct changes of magnetic or optical recording medium on its surface. This technique
of storing data bit by bit is approaching to physical limits because bit is a very small part of
whole data. If data can be stored on entire volume of storing material, it will increase high
density of data storing.

With a purpose of increasing storage capabilities, researchers and scientists are now majorly
working on a new optical storage technique, called Holographic Memory. Holographic memory
is technology which uses entire volume of storing material to store data instead of only the
surface area. So, this three dimensional data storing technique will increase data density per
volume and also offers faster data transfer rate. Actually, volumetric approach is used for

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holographic memory which was introduced almost a decade ago.
Holographic memory is having capacity storing data up to 1 Terabyte in a single sugar cube
sized crystal. The main advantage of holographic memory is that it is storing data page by page
not bit by bit and also same for retrieving. Holographic memory system’s capacity is almost
equal to 1,000 CDs.

1.1 Brief History

In 1971, the noble prize in physics was given to Dennis Gabor for his invention and
development of the holographic method. The optical holography highly depending on laser, so
more research and invention in this was started after development of laser in 1960. At initial
stage in 1962 after invention of laser the first optical hologram was recorded at the University of
Michigan, USA. Before that for recording holograms silver halide photographic emulsions was
used as a recording medium.

1.2 What is Holography?

The word “Holography” comes from Greek words which are having meaning of “whole” and
“Drawing”. In normal photography we store only intensity level of image but in holography with
intensity we also store phase for image while construction an image. So while reconstructing of
an image we can get 3D view of image. But here one thing is to be noticed that we can get feel of
3D image only in horizontal direction that means if we either move our eyes or an image
horizontally then only we can feel 3D image. If we move our head in vertical direction then it
will image will be looked like rainbow i.e. all seven colors.

1.3 Recording and Reading of Hologram

As we discussed earlier that in Holography, information is stored as page by page. At one
instance entire page is to be stored by an optical interference pattern within a thick,
photosensitive optical material as shown in fig.1. This pattern will be generated by intersection
of two laser beams which are coherent which are object beam and reference beam within the
storage material. Here object beam is having data what to be stored and reference beam is for
perfect generation of hologram at reading. The photosensitive storing medium’s chemical and
physical properties will be changed according to the interference pattern.

According to the interference pattern, the changes occur in properties of the photosensitive

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medium like the refractive index, absorption or thickness. Either object beam or reference beam
is illuminated on the interference pattern and from that we can get either reconstructed reference
beam or reconstructed object beam which is shown in fig. 2. Here one thing is to be noticed that
at time of reconstruction position, angle and wavelength of laser beam should be same as time of
construction, otherwise there may be possibility that we will get a different 3D pattern or say
some portion of pattern which is unexpected. So, these requirements make holography very
complex and costly because proper arrangements of all components are very time worthy.

Fig. 2 Reading of Hologram[1]

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Fig. 1 Recording of Hologram[1]

1.4 Holography Vs. Photography

In a normal photography information is only from one direction whereas in holography
information is from different direction and due to that only it generates a 3D view of image so
from different direction observer can observe it.
 A photograph may be recorded using normal light sources like sunlight or electric
lighting whereas a hologram is recorded using laser lights.
 To store a normal photograph a lens is required whereas to store a hologram storing
medium required on which interference pattern will be stored by scattering a light from
object.
 In normal photography only light from object is required whereas in holography object
bema as well as reference beam is also required.

 An observer or viewer can observe photograph in any light condition whereas hologram
can be observed only in very specific illumination’s form.
 If a photograph is cut from half, each piece will show half image whereas if hologram is
cut from half, each piece will show full hologram. This happens because in normal
photography each point related with specific point of scene or image only whereas in
holography each point is having information of all points of scene or image because in
this laser is scattered. So it is like window either you see from 4 ft * 4 ft window or 8 ft *
8 ft window, you can see the same scene but range of horizontal and vertical visibility
changes that you have move your head more to see same scene from 4 ft window
compare to 8 ft window.

1.5 Applications of Holography

 Holographic Interferometry
It is a one of the technique to identify static and dynamic change of object’s position. In
which two interference patterns of object are again interfaced and gives another
interference pattern which indicates the displacement of object.
 Security

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 Holograms are very useful in security and it is already used by many countries with a
purpose of security on their currency notes. It is also used by banks for security of their
credit cards. Now a days passports are also having holograms on them and with that
sports equipment, books, ID cards are also having holograms on them.
 Dynamic Holography
Holography is of two types that are static and dynamic. Till now we have seen only static
holography where hologram is constructed, stored and reconstructed. But in dynamic
holography some type of materials are used that is having capacity of recording hologram
very quickly and instantly we can reconstruct it using proper arrangements. These can be
used in image processing to recognize pattern images which are time varying.
 Data Storage
Holography is having capacity of storing different data using entire volume of storing
material like crystals or photopolymers. Now a day researchers are majorly working in
the field of minimizing size of data storage devices which means they want to increase
data density within specific volume of material.

So, now we will focus more on holography’s application of data storing which is having
special features of high volume density and high data transfer speed.

2.HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY
There are many ways of storing data like optical memory, flash memory, magnetic memory
etc. But next will be Holographic Memory. Holographic memory is a technology that allows
holograms containing millions of bits of data to be written or read in a single flash of light.
Thousands of overlapping holograms can be stored in a common volume of recording medium
which increases storage capacity per volume. Holography breaks through the density limits of
conventional 2D storage by recording throughout the full depth of a 3D medium. Holography
can write and read millions of bits of data in parallel, enabling significantly higher data transfer
rates than current optical storage devices which gives high data transfer rate.

2.1 Roadmap of Memory

Initially in 1970s to store data LASER discs were used which is having capacity of storing 30
minutes or 60 minutes per side in size if 30 cm. After that they were replaced by Compact Discs

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and Magneto Optical Discs which are having different storage capacity. The 12 cm sized CD can
store 700 MB data while 8 cm CD can store 200 MB of data. The 13 cm sized Magneto optical
disc can store from 650 MB to 9.2 GB. In 1990s Mini discs were invented which is having
storing capacity of 650 MB at initial stage. At present it is having capacity of 1 GB data storing.
These all were then replaced by Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) which is having storage capacity
up to 8.5 GB. In these CDs data were written only on single layer which restrict storing capacity
so BLURAY discs were invented in 2000s. BLURAY discs are having layers. The single layer
disc can store data of 25 GB while dual layer can store data of 50 GB. This also restricts data
storing capacity because still data is to be stored on surface of disc. Whole volume of disc is not
utilized to store data. So, solution for that is Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) in which to store
data entire volume is to be utilized which increases data storing capacity in small volume.

TABLE 1 Roadmap of Memory

Year Memory Type

1978 LASER Disc
1982 Compact Disc
1985 Magneto Optical Disc
1992 Mini Disc
1995 Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)
2006 Blu-Ray Disc
The Future Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD)

2.2 Recording to HVD

Till now we have seen how to store hologram of an image. But, now we are talking about
holographic memory which mean there are much more then only an image. Holographic memory
is optical type of memory which means we are using lasers in a procedure of storing data. So we
are having information in a form a LASER which will be split in to two laser beams by lens.
These two beams are signal beam and reference beam. Signal beam is having information to be
stored. Now this signal beam pas through the spatial light modulator (SLM) which converts this
beam into pixels of black and white as SLM is a 1024*1024 pixels square where each pixel will
either allow or stop the laser. On basis of this pixel charge coupled device (CCD) generates a

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string of 1’s and 0’s and that entire page is stored on hologram with a help of reference beam.
On basis of data physical and/or chemical characteristics of storing material will change. This all

procedure of data recording is shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 3 Recording of data to HVD[3]

2.3 Reading from HVD

Now data reading is also following the same method used for recording. As shown in fig 4
reference beam is used for reading data from storing material. Once again these data passes
through CCD for conversion and Detector will detect that data.

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 Fig. 4 Reading data from HVD[3]
Till now we have seen all basic concepts of Holography, how hologram is constructed and
reconstructed. With help of this how data can be stored to HVD and can be read from HVD.
Now, In next chapter we will see each component of HVD in detail and structure of HV.

3.HOLOGRAPHIC VERSATILE DISC (HVD) COMPONENTS

An HVD is hot topic for researchers at present as it can support more data density per volume
and with that high data transfer speed which are highly required for any storage device. So there
is possibility that in a few years all CDs and DVDs will be replaced by HVDs. Now a day two
sided blu-ray discs are becoming famous because it can store data on more than on surface i.e. it
is having multi-layer structure so data storing capacity increases with same area. HVD is having
capacity of transferring data at speed of 1 Gigabit per second. Till now researchers have reached
up to level that DVD’s same sized HVD can store data up to 1 terabyte of data and they are
claiming that they will able to store 1 terabyte of data in just one cube sugar size.

We can say that HVD is having 60 times more capacity of storing data than DVD and can
support 10 times more data transfer speed than DVD. So, we can say that 1 HVD is equivalent
to 830 DVDs and 160 Bluray discs in comparison of data storing capacity. With a purpose of
increasing capacity of data storing, holographic memory uses laser beams for storing data in
whole volume of HVD. The HVD process uses a blue green laser beam, used for reading and
writing data, collimated (made parallel) with a red laser beam, which is used for servo and
tracking. HVD uses the concept of holographic memory.

For writing to and reading data from HVD, proper setup should be made. For that main
components are required that are
 Spatial Light Modulator (SLM)
 Multiplexing Agent
 Storage Medium

 Charge Coupled Device (CCD)

3.1 Spatial Light Modulator (SLM)

An SLM - Spatial Light Modulator is used to convert electrical or optical signal into image. It

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can create 1000 of images in a second which gives an entire system high speed. It is used in
many various applications like optical devices like televisions, projectors. Normally, the medium
used in SLM is liquid crystal. It is also used as variable electro-optic mirror which is used in
optical systems for beam splitting, shutters and mirrors. SLM is having feature of working at
different frequencies. To analyse the image, SLM can be used as it gives output as pixel by pixel
of an image. SLM is having capacity of precisely controlling light which is very much required
for holographic memory and optical computing as light is just modified in pixels.
Basically, SLM is having two types of addressing modes. Addressing mode is depended on
the type of signal.
 Optically-addressed
From name it is indicating that when SLM is having optical input so it is optically

 Electrically-addressed
From name it is indicating that when SLM is having electrical input so it is
electrically-addressed mode.

As we have discussed earlier to use holography as a storage technology, digital data must be in a
form of a laser as an object beam while recording and reading. A device, having this type of
feature is SLM. SLM is nothing but made up of pixels and each pixel is an independent
microscopic shutter which is having capacity of either pass or block light.
Fig. 5 Spatial Light Modulator (SLM)[2]

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As we know that holographic memory is having data transfer speed of Gbit per second. So, if
we want to use SLM as one of the component of HVD, it should also have ability t transfer data
at that rate and yes it is can refresh itself 1000 times per second.

3.2 Multiplexing Agent

As we have discussed earlier that on basis of interference pattern storing material properties
will be changed and here by changing angle, position or wavelength we can create different
holograms so for that multiplexing agents are used.
 Angular Multiplexing
In this type of multiplexing, angle of reference beam is changed to generate different
interference pattern and same angle is used at time of reading data. Here it should be noticed
that a very small change in angle will generate different data or say wrong data. So, on basis
of sensitivity of storing material angle is changed while recording of data for multipleaxing.

 Wavelength Multiplexing
This type of multiplexing is used majorly when conjunction is there with other
multiplexing methods. In this different wavelength’s lasers are used while recording the data
so that on same medium more than one pattern can be stored.
 Spatial Multiplexing
In this type of multiplexing, position of point source is changed so that from same two
sources different interference pattern will be generated. But in this more mechanical work is
required in comparison of other two multiplexing.

3.3 Storage Medium

As we have discussed earlier that on basis of interference pattern physical and/or chemical
properties of storing medium is changed. There are mainly two storage mediums are used that
are
1. Lithium-niobate crystals
2. Photopolymers

3.4 Charge Coupled Device (CCD) :

CCD is nothing but an array of sensors which gives responses on basis of pixels of SLM. It is
mainly used to read interference pattern at time of recording and reading of data. It is able to read

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1 Mb of data at one instance. In general CCDs are of one square centimeter and having typical
access rate of 1000 frames per seconds or say 1 Gigabit per second.

Fig. 6 Common CCD Image Sensor Formats (Dimensions in Millimeters)[7]

For CCD there are two types of resolution which are
 Temporal Resolution
CCD is having specific resolution but it is with specific speed. If image rate per second higher
than specific rate then resolution of CCD will decrease. As we all know that in our mobile
phones or cameras images are having more resolution than videos. It is because of this problem
only that is for video image rate per second will increases which will affect the resolution.
 Spatial Resolution
 For same resolution at high speed scan and slow speed scan, there should be spatial
resolution for CCD so that we can get same resolution image and video.

4. ADVANCED HVD
4.1 Comparison

TABLE 2 Comparison of HVD with other Discs

DVD BLU-RAY HVD

Capacity 9.4 GB 50GB Up to 3.9 TB

Laser wave length 650 nm 405 nm 407 nm

Disc diameter 120 mm 120 mm 120 mm

Read/write speed 11.08 Mbps 36.5Mbps 1 Gbps

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4.2 Advantages and Drawbacks
Advantages
 High Data Transfer Speed
As we have discussed that holographic memory is giving data transfer speed up o 1 Gbps which
is highest till date for any storage device.
 High Data Density
Holographic memory can store data up to 3.9 TB in in 120 mm diameter sized disc and
researchers are claiming that they will reach up to 1 TB data in just 1 inch sized sugar cube.
 Data Stability and Reliability
One survey says that within a three year of period, 26.5% of seagate’s drive failed, 5.2% of
WD’s (Western Digital) drives failed and 3.1% of Hitachi’s drives failed whereas scientists of
holographic memory are claiming that Holographic memory is reliable till 50 years which is very
higher than these hard drives.
 Data Security
Holographic memory is of WORM (Write Once Read Many) type of memory so once data is
written then nobody can edit it which gives high data security.

Drawbacks
 Not guaranteed market leader
Holographic memory is offering all required features but still it is not that much popular because
recording and reading of data is very hard. If any other storing technique will come in market
then it is very hard to find components to record and read data form HVD.
 Expensive Development
As we have discussed for recording and reading data, whole setup should be very much perfect.
If there is any small displacement in any component, it will cause major errors in data.

4.3 Potential Competitors

 Blu-ray Discs
 UV or X-rays

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4.4 Companies working on Holographic Memory
 Akonia Holographics
 IBM
 Intel
 Musion-The world leaders in holographic technology
 Zebra Imaging
 Realview medical holography

5.HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY vs. EXISTING MEMORY TECHNOLOGY

In the memory hierarchy, holographic memory lies somewhere between RAM and magnetic
storage in terms of data transfer rates, storage capacity, and data access times. The theoretical
limit of the number of pixels that can be stored using volume holography is V 2/3/ 2 where V is the
volume of the recording medium and is the wavelength of the reference beam. For green light,
the maximum theoretical storage capacity is 0.4 Gbits/cm2 for a page size of 1 cm x 1 cm.
Also, holographic memory has an
access time near 2.4
s, a recording rate of 31 kB/s, and a readout rate of 10 GB/s. Modern
magnetic
disks have data transfer rates in the neighborhood of 5 to 20 MB/s [8]. Typical DRAM today has
an access time close to 10 – 40 ns, and a recording rate of 10 GB/s.

Storage Access Time Data Transfer Rate Storage Capacity

Medium
Holographic Memory 2.4 s 10 GB/s 400 Mbits/cm2

Main Memory (RAM) 10 – 40 ns 5 MB/s 4.0 Mbits/cm2

Magnetic Disk 8.3 ms 5 – 20 MB/s 100 Mbits/cm2

Holographic memory has an access time somewhere between main memory and magnetic
disk, a data transfer rate that is an order of magnitude better than both main memory and
magnetic disk, and a storage capacity that is higher than both main memory and magneticdisk.
Certainly if the issues of hologram decay and interference are resolved, then holographic

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memory could become a part of the memory hierarchy, or take the place of magnetic disk much
as magnetic disk has displaced magnetic tape for most applications.

6.HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY
Wide possibilities in this case are provided by technology of optical recording, it's known as
holography: it allows high record density together with maximum data access speed. It'sachieved
due to the fact that the holographic image (hologram) is coded in one big data block, which is
recorded at one access. And while reading this block is entirely extracted out of the memory. For
reading and recording of the blocks kept holographically on the light-sensitive material (LiNbO3
is taken as the basic material) they use lasers. Theoretically, thousands of such digital pages,
which contain up to a million bits each, can be put into a device measuringa bit of sugar. And
theoretically they expect the data density to be 1 TBytes per cubic cm (TBytes/cm3). In practice,
the developers expect around 10 GBytes/cm3, what is rather impressive when comparing with
the current magnetic method that allows around several MBytes/cm2 - and this without the
mechanism itself. With such recording density an optical layer which is approx 1 cm in width
will keep around 1TBytes of data. And considering the fact that such system doesn't have any
moving parts, and pages are accessed parallel, you can expect the device to be characterized with
1 GBytes/cm3 density and higher.

FIGURE-1 SYSTEM OF HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY

Exceptional possibilities of the topographic memory have interested many scientists of

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universities and industrial research laboratories. This interest long time ago poured into two
research programs. The first of them is PRISM ( Photorefractive Information Storage Material),
which is targeted at searching of appropriate light-sensitive materials for storing holograms and
investigation of their memorizing properties. The second program is HDSS (Holographic Data
Storage System). Like PRISM, it includes fundamental investigations, and the same companies
participate there. While PRISM is aimed at searching the appropriate media for storing
holograms, HDSS is targeted at hardware development necessary for practical realization of
holographic storage systems.
How does a system of holographic memory operate? For this purpose we will consider a
device assembled by a task group from the Almaden Research Center.
At the first stage in this device a beam of cyan argon laser is divided into two components - a
reference and an object beam (the latter is a carrier of data). The object beam undergoes
defocusing in order it could entirely illumine the SLM (Spatial Light Modulator) which is an
LCD panel where a data page is displayed in the form of a matrix consisting of light and dark
pixels (binary data).
The both beams go into the light-sensitive crystal where they interact. So we get an interference
pattern which serve a base for a hologram and is recorded as a set of variations ofthe refractive
exponent and the reflection factor inside this crystal. When reading data the crystal is illuminated
with a reference beam, which interacts with the interference factor and reproduces the recorded
page in the image of "chess- board" of light and dark pixels (the holograms converts the
reference wave into the copy of the object one). After that, this image is transferred into the
matrix detector where the CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) serves a base. While reading the data
the reference beam must fall at the same angle at which the recording was made; alteration of
this angle mustn't exceed 1 degree. It allows obtaining high data density: measuring the angle of
the reference beam or its frequency you can record additional pages of data in the same crystal.

However, additional holograms change properties of the material, and such changes mustn't
exceed the definite number. As a result, the images of holograms become dim, what can lead to
data corruption when reading? This explains the limitation of the volume of the real memory that
belongs to this material. The dynamic area of the medium is defined by the number of pages
which can be virtually housed, that's why PRISM participants are investigating limitations to the

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light sensitivity of substances.

The procedure in 3-dimensional holography which concludes in enclosure of several

pageswith data into the same volume is called multiplexing. Traditionally the following
multiplexing methods are used: of angle of dip of the reference beam, of wavelength and phase;
but unfortunately they require complicated optical systems and thick (several mm) carriers what
makes them unfit for commercial use, at least in the sphere of data processing. But lately Bell
Labs have invented three new multiplexing methods: shift, aperture and correlative, which are
based on the usage of change in position of the carrier relative to the beams of light. The shift
and aperture multiplexing use a spherical reference beam, and the correlative uses a beam of
more complicated form. Besides, considering the fact that the correlative and shift multiplexing
enable mechanical moving elements, the access time will be the same as that of the usual optical
discs. Bell Labs managed to build an experimental carrier on the same LiNBO3 using the
technology of correlative multiplexing but this time with 226 GBytes per square inch.
Another problem standing on the way of development of holographic memory devices is a
search of the appropriate material. The most of the investigations in the sphere of holography
were carried out with usage of photoreactive materials (mainly the mentioned LiNBO3), but they
are not suitable for data recording especially for commercial use: they are expensive, weak
sensitive and have a limited dynamic range (frequency bandwidth). That's why they developed a
new class of photopolymer materials facing a good perspective in terms ofcommercial use.
Photopolymers are the substances where the light cause irreversible changesexpressed through
fluctuation of the composition and density. The created material have a longer life circle (in
terms of storing data) and are resistant to temperature change, besides, they have improved
optical characteristics and are suitable for WORM (write-once/read many).

One more problem concludes in the complexity of the used optical system. For holographic
memory the LEDs based on semiconductor lasers used in traditional optical devices are not
suitable, since they have insufficient power, give out a wide beam angle, and at last it's too
difficult to get a semiconductor laser generating radiation in the middle range of the visible
spectrum. There you need as powerful laser as possible which gives the most exact parallel
beam. The same we can say about the SLM: yet some time ago there were no any such devices
which could be used in the holographic memory systems. But time flies and today you can get

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inexpensive solid-state lasers; besides, there appeared the MEM technology (Micro- Electrical
Mechanical). The devices on its base consist of the arrays of micromirrors around 17 micron in
size, they suit very much for the role of SLM. Since the interference patterns fill up the whole
substance uniformly, it gives another useful property to the holographic memory - high reliability
of the recorded information. While a defecton the surface of the magnetic disc or tape destroy
important data, a defect in holographic medium doesn't cause a loss of information, it leads only
to tarnish of the hologram. The small desktop HDSS-devices are to appear by 2003. Since the
optical discs. Bell Labs managed to build an experimental carrier on the same LiNBO3 using the
technology of correlative multiplexing but this time with 226 GBytes per square inch.

Another problem standing on the way of development of holographic memory devices is a

search of the appropriate material. The most of the investigations in the sphere of holography
were carried out with usage of photoreactive materials (mainly the mentioned LiNBO3), but they
are not suitable for data recording especially for commercial use: they are expensive, weak
sensitive and have a limited dynamic range (frequency bandwidth). That's why they developed a
new class of photopolymer materials facing a good perspective in terms ofcommercial use.
Photopolymers are the substances where the light cause irreversible changesexpressed through
fluctuation of the composition and density. The created material have a longer life circle (in
terms of storing data) and are resistant to temperature change, besides, they have improved
optical characteristics and are suitable for WORM (write-once/read many).

One more problem concludes in the complexity of the used optical system. For holographic
memory the LEDs based on semiconductor lasers used in traditional optical devices are not
suitable, since they have insufficient power, give out a wide beam angle, and at last it's too
difficult to get a semiconductor laser generating radiation in the middle range of the visible
spectrum. There you need as powerful laser as possible which gives the most exact parallel
beam. The same we can say about the SLM: yet some time ago there were no any such devices
which could be used in the holographic memory systems. But time flies and today you can get
inexpensive solid-state lasers; besides, there appeared the MEM technology (Micro- Electrical
Mechanical). The devices on its base consist of the arrays of micromirrors around 17 micron in
size, they suit very much for the role of SLM.

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 Since the interference patterns fill up the whole substance uniformly, it gives another useful
property to the holographic memory - high reliability of the recorded information. While a defect
on the surface of the magnetic disc or tape destroy important data, a defect in holographic
medium doesn't cause a loss of information, it leads only to tarnish of the hologram. The small
desktop HDSS-devices are to appear by 2003. Since theHDSS equipment use an acoustooptical
deflector for measuring angle of dip (a crystal which properties change with a sound-wave
passing through it), the extraction time for adjacent data pages will constitute 10ms. Any
traditional optical or magnetic memory device needs special means for data access of different
tracks, and this access time constitutes several milliseconds.

The holographic memory is not a completely new technology since its basic conceptions were
developed about 30 years ago. The only that has changed is availability of the key components -
the prices considerably fell down. The semiconductor laser, for example, is not unusual. On the
other hand, SLM is a result of the same technology which is used in production of LCD-screens
for notebooks and calculators, and the CCd detector array is taken right from a digital video
camera.

Well, the new technology has more than enough highlights: apart from the fact that
information is stored and recorded parallel, you can reach very high data rate, and in some cases
high speed of random access. And the main advantage is that mechanical components are
practically absent (those that typical for current storage devices). It ensures not only a fast
dataaccess, less probability of failures, but also lower power consumption, since today a hard
disc is one of the greatest power-consuming elements of a computer. However, there are
problems with adjustment of optical devices, that's why at the beginning the data of the device
will probably "fear" exterior mechanical effects.

7.MOLECULAR MEMORY
Another approach in creation of storage devices is a molecular method. A group of researchers
of the "W.M. Keck Center for Molecular Electronic" with Professor Robert R. Birge as a head
quite a long time ago received a prototype of memory subsystem which uses digital bits of a
molecule. These are protein molecules which is called bacteriorhodopsin. It's purple, absorbs the
light and presents in a membrane of a microorganism called halobacterium halobium. This

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bacterium lives in salt bogs where the temperature can reach +150 °C. When a level of oxygen
contents is so low in the ambient that to obtain power breathing (oxidation) is not enough, it uses
protein for photosynthesis.

Bacteriorhodopsin was chosen because a photocycle (a sequence of structural changes

undergone by a molecule when reacting with light) makes this molecule an ideal logically storing
element of "&" type or a type of a switch from one condition into another (trigger). According to
Birge's investigation, bR-state (logical value of the bit "0") and Q-state (logical value of the bit
"1") are intermediate states of the molecule and can remain stable during many years. This
property (which in particular provides a wonderful stability of protein) was obtained by an
evolutional way in the struggle for survival under severe conditions of salt bogs.

Birge estimated that the data recorded on the bacteriorhodopsin storage device must "live"
around 5 years. Another important feature of the bacteriorhodopsin is that these both states have
different absorption spectra. It allows easily defining the current state of the molecule withthe
help of a laser set for the definite frequency.
They built a prototype of memory system where the absorption spectrum stores data in 3-

dimensional matrix. Such matrix represents a cuvette (a transparent vessel) filled up with
polyacryde gel, where protein is put. The cuvette has an oblong form 1x1x2 inch in size. The
protein which is in the bR-state is fixed in the space with gel polymerization. The cuvette is
surrounded with a battery of lasers and a detector array based on the device using a principle of
CID (Charge Injection Device), they serve for data recording and reading.

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 When recording data first you need switch on a yellow-wave "page" laser - for converting the
molecules into Q-state. The SLM which represents an LCD-matrix creating a mask on the beam
way stimulates appearing of an active (excited) plane in the material inside the cuvette. This
poweractive plane is a page of data which can house 4096x4096 bit array. Beforereturning of
protein into the quiescent state (in such state it can remain quite a long time keeping the
information) a red-wave recording laser lights on; it's positioned at the right angleto the yellow
one. The other SLM displays binary data, and this way creates the corresponding mask on the
way of the beam, that's why only definite spots (pixels) of the page will be irradiated. The
molecules in these spots will convert into Q-state and will represent a binary one. The remaining
part of the page will come into the initial bR-state and will represent binary zeros. In order to
read the data you will need again the "page" laser which converts the read page into Q-state. It's
implemented so that in the future one can identify binary one and zero with the help of difference
in absorption spectra. 2ms later the page is plunged into low- intensive light flux of the red-wave
laser. Low intensity is necessary to prevent jumping into Q- state. The molecules that represent a
binary zero absorb red light, and those that represent a binary one let the beam pass by. It creates
a "chess" picture of light and dark spots on the LCD-matrix which takes a page of digital
information.

For erasing information a short impulse of a cyan laser is enough in order to convert

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themolecules from Q-state back into bR-state. This beam can be obtained not necessary with
thelaser: you can erase the whole cuvette with a usual ultraviolet lamp. In order to ensure
theentirety of data when erasing only the definite pages there used caching of several
adjacentpages. For read/write operations two additional parity bits are also used to prevent
errors. Thedata page can be read without corruption up to 5000 times. Each page is traced by a
meterand after 1024 reading the page gets refreshed (regenerated) with a new recording
operation. Considering that a molecule changes its states within 1 ms, the total time taken for
read orwrite operations constitutes around 10 ms. But similar to the system of a holographic
memorythis device makes a parallel access in the read-write cycle, what allows counting on the
speedup to 10 Mbps. It is assumed that combining 8 storing bit cells into a byte with a parallel
access, you can reach, then, 80 Mbps, but such method requires a corresponding
circuitrealization of the memory subsystem. Some versions of the SLM devices implement a
pageaddressing, which in cheap constructions is used when sending the beam to the required
pagewith the help of rotary system of galvanic mirrors. Such SLM provides 1ms access but
costsfour times more.

Birge states that the system suggested by him is close to the semiconductor memory in
operating speed until a page defect is come across. On detecting of a defect it's necessary to
resend the beam for accessing these pages from the other side. Theoretically, the cuvette can
accommodate 1TBytes of data. Limitation of capacity is mainly connected with problems oflens
system and quality of protein.

Will the molecular memory be able to compete against the traditional semiconductor memory?
Its construction has undoubtedly some advantages. First, it's based on protein which is produced
in large volumes and at low price. Secondly, the system can operate in the wider range of
temperatures than the semiconductor memory. Thirdly, data are stored constantly - even in case
of power switching off, it won't cause data loss. And at last, bricks with data whichare rather
small in size but contain gigabytes of data can be placed into an archive for storing copies (like
magnetic tapes). Since the bricks do not have moving parts, it's more convenient than usage of
portable hard discs or cartridges with magnetic tape.

Recently, holographic data storage technologies have again been in the limelight as a next-

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generation storage system that achieves large storage capacities and high transfer
ratessimultaneously. This shift was mainly shaped by two USA national projects, the
PhotoRefractive Information Storage Materials (PRISM) consortium and the Holographic Data
Storage System (HDSS) consortium, launched and conducted from 1994 to 1999. In PRISM, it
was shown that photopolymer has entered a commercially practicable realm as a holographic
recording material other than crystals. In HDSS, rotating a disk- shaped storage medium to
continuously record and reconstruct data was demonstrated.

However, a large number of subjects still remain to be tackled regarding commercialization

even after the completion of these large-scale USA national projects.We
have been developing a holographic memory that has compatibility with the conventional optical
disk technologies. Since the reference beam and information beam are coaxially arranged to
perform recording and reconstruction, the holographic memory is called a coaxial read/write
holographic memory or collinear systemThere have been a number of proposals for holographic
memories in which holographic recording media were shaped into a disk. However, simply
shaping a recording medium into a disk does not assure practicability and a number of problems
have to be tackled from the perspective of commercialization.

 For the two-beam interference method as shown in Fig.1, the reference beam and
information beam are configured in two different optical axes. This makes the optical
system complex.

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  There are no precise standards or addresses for the holographic recording media,
resulting in very poor removability
 There is no interchangeability between the holographic recording devices and recording
media of the same type
 Insufficient consideration is given to measures to combat plane deflection or eccentricity
during rotation of the disk.
 Holographic recording media require flatness of the order of the optical wavelength,
which is unsuitable for volume production
 No consideration is given to maintaining upward compatibility with existing storage
media such as CDs and DVDs.
 Utilization of the existing production infrastructure has not been considered. This means
that the production of holographic memories requires investments in new equipment.

8.COLLINEAR SYSTEM
By studying the conventional problems noted above, it becomes especially important to
fundamentally reconsider a holographic recording and reconstruction optical system using the
two-beam interference method noted in(1).The collinear system is based on the coaxial
read/write type in which the reference and information beams are handled as a pencil of coaxial
light, rather than the two-beam interference method that was widely used in the past. This
enables the comprehensive optical disk technologies to be easily fused to realize large storage
capacity, and high transfer rate memories of a new concept while exploiting the advantages of
the holographic memory.

The following shows the concept of collinear holographic memories

 Thick volume-recording media are used to increase the recording capacities
 A batch of two-dimensional page data are recorded and reconstructed as ahologram to
improve the transfer rates.
 The information beam and reference beam are collinearly optically arranged on the same
axis without angles to perform holographic recording and reconstruction.
 Disk construction with a coated reflection film is employed to configure an optical
system that completes on a single side of the disk

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  An optical disk is preformatted with addresses and optical servo information
 The optical servo technique is applied so that interference patterns are recorded even in
the presence of disk rotation, eccentricity, or plane deflection
 A two-wavelength optical system is configured to read out addresses at a wavelength that
does not photosensitize a holographic recording material, and perform optical servo
operations.

 A beam for the optical servo is utilized to provide upward compatibility with the
existing CDs or DVDs.

9.COLLINEAR HOLOGRAPHIC MEDIA EVALATION SYSTEM S-VRDTM

Fig.2 Collinear Holographic Media Evaluation System S-VRD

To accelerate the commercialization of collinear holographic memories, it is necessary to

promote the research and development of holographic recording media. Fig.2 shows the
appearance of a recording media evaluation system (abbreviated product name: SVRD)
employing the collinear system. This evaluation system can record and reconstruct two-
dimensional digital page data employing the collinear system and evaluate the characteristics of

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the recording material such as bit error rates and signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) from different
angles. Moreover, it can measure small-piece samples to disk samples (option) using a 6-axes
control universal sample holder.

10.CONCLUSION
Holographic memory is using lasers for recording and reading of data in which signal beam
and reference beam are used and interfering pattern of these two beams is to be stored in
memory. As interfering pattern is stored, by changing angle, position or wavelength of reference
beam different patterns can generated which increases data density. Holographic Memory is
having all required features of any storing device like high storage densities – 1 TB in just sugar
sized cube, fast data transfer rate - 1 Gbps and with that 3D representation of image or video. So
these all make Holographic memory a perfect suitable choice for storing data.

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 SEMINOR TOPIC : HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY

11.REFERENCES
 J. Ashley, M. Bernal, “Holographic data storage”, IBM, Vol. 44, No. 3, May, 2000, pp.
341-368
 G. Burr, H. Coufal, “High-density and high-capacity holographic data storage” on
Optical Information Technology, Vol. 10,No. 1, IBM Almaden Research Center, Jan-
March, 2011.
 J. Downie, “Holographic Optical Data Storage”, NASA Ames research Center, 2000
 H. Horimai, Y. Aoki, “Holgraphic Versatile Disc System” in OPTWARE corporation,
2006, pp. 6-8
 G. Deepika, “Holographic Versatile Disc” in department of technology,
 February,2011, pp. 145-146
 G. Burr, “Read-Write and Content-Addressable Holographic Data Storage” in IBM
Almaden Research Center, 2002, pp. 141-143
 www.akoniaholographics .com/holographic-data/(2/1/2015)
 http://www.computerworld.com/article/2486820/data-center/read-this-before-you-buy-
another-hard-drive.html(14/6/2014)
 http://www.microscopyu.com/articles/digitalimaging/ccdintro.html(17/3/2015).

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