Optical 3D-storage in sol-gel materials with a reading by Optical Coherence Tomography-technique

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates 3D optical data storage in sol-gel materials using non-linear absorption effects, read with high-resolution Optical Coherence Tomography, marking a novel application of this imaging technique.

Contribution

It introduces the first use of Optical Coherence Tomography for reading 3D optical memories in sol-gel materials, utilizing non-linear absorption for data recording.

Findings

Successful recording of 3D data in sol-gel materials.

High-resolution readout with Optical Coherence Tomography.

Effective data encoding with focused picosecond laser pulses.

Abstract

We report on the recording of 3D optical memories in sol-gel materials by using a non-linear absorption effect. This effect induces a local change of the optical properties of the material which is read and quantified with a high resolution full-field Optical Coherence Tomography setup. It is the first time that this technique is used for this purpose. Data recording was performed by focused picosecond (ps) single-pulse irradiation at 1064 nm with energy densities of 10 and 33 J/cm2 per pulse.