ABSTRACT

With its omnipresent computers, all connected via the Internet, the Information Age has led to an explosion of information available to users. The decreasing costs of storing data, and the increasing storage capacities of the same small device footprint, have been key enablers of this revolution. While current storage needs are being met, storage technologies must continue to improve in order to keep pace with the rapidly increasing demand.

In order to increase storage capabilities, scientists are now working on a new optical storage method, called holographic memory that will go beneath the surface and use the volume of the recording medium for storage, instead of only the surface area.

Both magnetic and conventional optical data storage technologies, where individual bits are stored as distinct magnetic or optical changes on the surface of a recording medium, are approaching physical limits beyond which individual bits may be too small or too difficult to store. Storing information throughout the volume of a medium—not just on its surface—offers an intriguing high-capacity alternative. Holographic data storage is a volumetric approach, which although conceived decades ago, has made recent progress toward practicality with the appearance of lower-cost enabling technologies, significant results from longstanding research efforts, and progress in holographic recording materials.

This seminar deals with the recording and retrieval of data in holographic memories and the advantages and disadvantages and the future of holographic memory.