Holographic data storage 

is a potential replacement technology in the area of high-

capacity data storage currently dominated by magnetic and conventional optical data storage. Magnetic
and optical data storage devices rely on individual bits being stored as distinct magnetic or optical
changes on the surface of the recording medium. Holographic data storage overcomes this limitation by
recording information throughout the volume of the medium and is capable of recording multiple images in
the same area utilizing light at different angles.
Additionally, whereas magnetic and optical data storage records information a bit at a time in a linear
fashion, holographic storage is capable of recording and reading millions of bits in parallel, enabling data
transfer rates greater than those attained by optical storage.
Recording Data:Holographic data storage captures information using an optical interference pattern within
a thick, photosensitive optical material. Light from a single laser beam is divided into two separate optical
patterns of dark and light pixels. By adjusting the reference beam angle, wavelength, or media position, a
multitude of holograms (theoretically, several thousand) can be stored on a single volume. The theoretical
limits for the storage density of this technique is approximately several tens of Terabytes (1 terabyte =
1024 gigabytes) per cubic centimeter. In 2006,InPhase Technologies published a white paper reporting
an achievement of 500 Gb/in2. From this figure we can deduce that a regular disk (with 4 cm radius of
writing area) could hold up to a maximum of 3895.6Gb

Reading Data: The stored data is read through the reproduction of the same reference beam used to
create the hologram. The reference beam’s light is focused on the photosensitive material, illuminating
the appropriate interference pattern, the light diffracts on the interference pattern, and projects the pattern
onto a detector. The detector is capable of reading the data in parallel, over one million bits at once,
resulting in the fast data transfer rate. Files on the holographic drive can be accessed in less than 200
milliseconds.

Longevity:Holographic data storage can provide companies a method to preserve and archive
information. The write-once, read many (WORM) approach to data storage would ensure content security,
preventing the information from being overwritten or modified. Manufacturers believe this technology can
provide safe storage for content without degradation for more than 50 years, far exceeding current data
storage options. Counterpoints to this claim are that the evolution of data reader technology changes
every ten years; therefore, being able to store data for 50–100 years would not matter if you could not
read or access it. However, a storage method that works very well could be around longer before needing
a replacement; plus, with the replacement, the possibility of backwards-compatibility exists, similar to how
DVD technology is backwards-compatible with CD technology.

HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY is a storage device that is being researched and slated as the storage device
that will replace hard drives and DVDs in the future. It has the potential of storing up to 1 terabyte or one
thousand gigabytes of data in a crystal the size of a sugar cube.

Brief History of Holographic Memory

Using holograms as memory storage was first proposed by Pieter Heerden in the 1960s. During the early
1970s, a group of scientists from TRCA laboratories succeeded in storing 500 holograms using an iron
doped litium niobate crystal. Moreover, they were also able to store five hundred fifty high-resolution
hologram images using a material made up of light sensitive polymer. The high cost of the materials
needed for this type of technology as well as the rise of magnetic and optical drives shelved the project in
the end.

Now research for holographic memory systems has been reactivated since the components needed for
such a technology has become widely available and cheaper. The laser system needed for the device to
work, for instance, has shrunk in size so it can easily fit in a conventional CD or DVD player. Moreover,
liquid crytal displays or LCDs which were in their infancy during the initial research done on holographic
 memory systems are now more advanced and quite a lot cheaper. The same goes for the other
components such as the "Charge-Coupled Device" or CCD.

Technology behind Holographic Memory Systems

The holographic memory system is made up of the following basic components:

 a charge-coupled device
 lenses to focus the laser beams
 an LCD panel
 a photopolymer or lithium niobate crystal
 mirrors to direct the laser light
 beam splitters
 and an argon laser.
The light from the argon laser is split in two by the beam splitter. The signal or object beam will bounce off
a mirror and pass through a spatial light modulator or SLM (and LCD showing raw binary data as dark
and clear boxes). The signal or object beam will then carry the information from the SLM to the crystal.
The second beam or the reference beam, on the other hand, takes another course towards the crystal
and upon hitting it along with the object beam, creates an interference pattern that will be used to store
the information relayed by the object beam in a certain location in the crystal. To access the stored data
requires directing the light of the reference beam into the exact location in the crystal where the needed
information was stored. The crystal diffracts the light of the reference beam to recreate the page that was
stored which in turn will be sent to the CCD or charge couple device camera capable of interpreting the
data and converting it into digital information that the computer can use.

Advantages of Holographic Memory Systems

Aside from having a tremendous amount of storage space for data, holographic memory systems also
have the ability to retrieve data very quickly, up to a 1 gigabyte per second transfer rate.
INTRODUCTION

Devices that use light to store and read data have been thebackbone of data storage for nearly

two decades. Compact discs revolutionized datastorage in the early 1980s, allowing multi-megabytes of

data to be stored on a discthat has a diameter of a mere 12 centimeters and a thickness of about

1.2millimeters. In 1997, an improved version of the CD, called a digital versatile disc(DVD), was released,

which enabled the storage of full-length movies on a single disc.

CDs and DVDs are the primary data storage methods for music,software, personal computing

and video. A CD can hold 783 megabytes of data. Adouble-sided, double-layer DVD can hold 15.9 GB of

data, which is about eighthours of movies. These conventional storage mediums meet today's storage

needs,but storage technologies have to evolve to keep pace with increasing consumerdemand. CDs,

DVDs and magnetic storage all store bits of information on thesurface of a recording medium. In order to

increase storage capabilities, scientistsare now working on a new optical storage method called

holographic memory thatwill go beneath the surface and use the volume of the recording medium for

storage,instead of only the surface area. Three-dimensional data storage will be able to storemore

information in a smaller space and offer faster data transfer times.

Holographic memory is developing technology that haspromised to revolutionalise the storage

systems. It can store data upto 1 Tb in asugar cube sized crystal. Data from more than 1000 CDs can fit

into a holographicmemory System.Most of the computer hard drives available today can hold only10 to 40

GB of data, a small fraction of what holographic memory system can hold.Conventional memories use

only the surface to store the data.But holographic datastorage systems use the volume to store data.It

has more advantages thanconventional storage systems.It is based on the principle of holography.

Scientist Pieter J. van Heerden first proposed the idea of holographic (three-dimensional) storage in the

early 1960s. A decade later, scientists at RCALaboratories demonstrated the technology by recording 500

holograms in an iron-doped lithium-niobate crystal and 550 holograms of high-resolution images in alight-

sensitive polymer material. The lack of cheap parts and the advancement ofmagnetic and semiconductor

memories placed the development of holographic datastorage on hold.

HOLOGRAPHY

A hologram is a block or sheet of photosensitive material whichrecords the

interference of two light sources.To create a hologram, laserlightisfirst split into two beams, a source

beam and a reference beam. The sourcebeam is then manipulated and sent into the photosensitive

material.Onceinsidethismaterial,it intersects the reference beam and the resulting interference of

laserlight is recorded on the photosensitive material, resulting in a hologram.Once a hologram is

recorded, it can be viewed with only the reference beam.Thereference beam is projected into the

hologram at the exact angle it was projectedduring recording. When this light hits the recorded diffraction

pattern, thesource beamis regenerated out of the refracted light.An exact copy of thesourcebeam is sent

out of the hologram and can be read by optical sensors.Forexample, a hologram that can be obtained

from a toy store illustrates this idea.

Precise laser equipment is used at the factory to create the hologram.Arecording material

which can recreate recorded images out of natural light is used sothe consumer does not need high-tech

equipment to view the informationstoredinthehologram.Natural light becomes the reference beam and

humaneyes become the optical sensors.

Holography was invented in 1947 by the Hungarian-British physicist

Dennis Gabor (1900-1979), who won a 1971 Nobel Prize for his invention.
CREATING HOLOGRAMS
RETRIEVING HOLOGRAMS
APPLICATION TO BINARY

In order for holographic technology to be applied to computersystems, it must

store data in a form that a computer can recognize.In currentcomputer systems, this form is binary.In the

previous section, it was mentionedthat the source beam is manipulated.In

commonholograms,thismanipulationisthe creation of an optical image such as a ball or human face. In

computerapplications, this manipulation is in the form of bits.The next section explains thespatial light

modulator, a device that converts laser light into binary data.

SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR (SLM)

 A spatial light modulator is used for creating binaryinformation

outoflaserlight.The SLM is a 2D plane, consisting of pixels whichcan be turned on and off to create binary

1.s and 0.s.An illustration of this is awindow and a window shade.It is possible to pull the shade down

over a windowto block incoming sunlight.If sunlight is desired again, the shade can be raised.Aspatial

light modulator contains a two-dimensional array of windows which are onlymicrons wide. These windows

block some parts of the incominglaser light and letother parts go through.The resulting cross section of

the laserbeam is a twodimensional array of binary data, exactly the same as what was represented in

theSLM. After the laser beam is manipulated, it is sent into the hologram to berecorded.This data is

written into the hologram as page form.It is called this dueto its representation as a two dimensional

plane, or page of data. Spatial lightmodulator is a Liquid Crystal Display panel that consists of clear and

dark areascorresponding to the binary information it represent.

Spatial light modulator is actually that device which makes holographyapplicable to

computers.So it is one of the important components of HolographicData Storage System.

IMPLEMENTATION

The components of Holographic data storage system is composed of

Blue-green argon laser

Beam splitters to spilt the laser beam

Mirrors to direct the laser beams

LCD panel (spatial light modulator)

Lenses to focus the laser beams

Lithium-niobate crystal or photopolymer

Charge coupled device camera

They can be classified into three sections namely recording medium,optical recording

system and photodetector array.The laser is used because itprovides monochromatic light.Only the

interference pattern produced by themonochromatic beam of light is stable in time. Lithium niobate crystal

is used asphotosensitive material on which hologram is recorded. It has certain opticalcharacteristics that
make it behave as photosensitive material.CCDcamera detectsthe information in the light, converts to

digital information and forward it to computer.

RECORDING OF DATA IN HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY SYSTEM

When the blue-green argon laser is fired, a beam splitter createstwo beams. One

beam, called the object or signal beam, will go straight, bounce offone mirror and travel through a spatial-

light modulator (SLM). An SLM is aLiquid crystal display (LCD) that shows pages of raw binary data as

clear and darkboxes. The information from the page of binary code is carried by the signal beamaround to

the light-sensitive lithium-niobate crystal. Some systems use aphotopolymer in place of the crystal. A

second beam, called the reference beam,shoots out the side of the beam splitter and takes a separate

path to the crystal.When the two beams meet, the interference pattern that is created stores the

datacarried by the signal beam in a specific area in the crystal -- the data is stored as a hologram.

RETRIEVAL OF DATA FROM HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY SYSTEM

 An advantage of a holographic memory system is that anentire page of data

can be retrieved quickly and at one time. In order to retrieveand reconstruct the holographic page of data

stored in the crystal, the referencebeam is shined into the crystal at exactly the same angle at which it

entered tostore that page of data. Each page of data is stored in a different area of thecrystal, based on

the angle at which the reference beam strikes it. During

reconstruction, the beam will be diffracted by the crystal to allow the recreation

of the original page that was stored. This reconstructed page is then projectedonto the charge-coupled

device (CCD) camera, which interprets and forwardsthe digital information to a computer.

CCD is a 2-D array of thousands or millions of tiny solar cells, each ofwhich transforms the light

from one small portion of the image into electrons.Next step is to read the value (accumulated charge) of

each cell in the image. Ina CCD device, the charge is actually transported across the chip and read at

onecorner of the array. An analog-to-digital converter turns each pixel's value into adigital value.CCDs

use a special manufacturing process to create the ability totransport charge across the chip without

distortion. This process leads to veryhigh-quality sensors in terms of fidelity and light sensitivity.CCD

sensors havebeen mass produced for a longer period of time, so they are more mature. Theytend to have

higher quality and more pixels.

The key component of any holographic data storage system is theangle at which the

second reference beam is fired at the crystal to retrieve a pageof data. It must match the original

reference beam angleexactly. A difference ofjust a thousandth of a millimeter will result in failure to

retrieve that page of data.

PAGE DATA ACCESS

Because data is stored as page data in a hologram, the retrievalof this data must

also be in this form.Page data access is the method ofreadingstored data in sheets, not serially as in

conventional storage systems.It wasmentioned in the introduction that conventional storage was reaching

itsfundamental limits.

One such limit is the way data is read in streams.Holographic memory

reads data in the form of pages instead.For example, if astream of 32 bits is sent to a processing unit by a

conventional read head, aholographic memory system would in turn send 32 x

32bits,or1024bitsduetoitsaddeddimension.This provides very fast access times in volumes far greaterthan

serial access methods.The volume could be one Megabit per page using aSLM resolution of 1024 x 1024

bits at 15-20 microns per pixel.

MULTIPLEXING

Once one can store a page of bits in a hologram, an interface to acomputer can be

made.The problem arises, however, that storing only one page ofbits is not beneficial.Fortunately, the

properties of holograms provide a uniquesolution to this dilemma.Unlike magnetic storage mechanisms

which store data ontheir surface, holographic memories store information throughout their
wholevolume.After a page of data is recorded in the hologram, a small modification tothe source beam

before it reenters the hologram will record another page of data inthe same volume. This method of

storing multiple pages of data in thehologramiscalled multiplexing.The thicker the volume becomes, the

smallerthe modifications to the source beam can be.

ANGULAR MULTIPLEXING

When a reference beam recreates the source beam, it needs to be at the same angle itwas during

recording.A very small alteration in this angle will make theregenerated source beam

disappear. Harnessing this property, angular multiplexingchanges the angle of the source beam by very

minuscule amounts after each page ofdata is recorded. Depending on the sensitivity of the recording

material,thousands of pages of data can be stored in

thesamehologram,atthesamepointoflaserbeamentry.Staying away from conventional data access

systemswhich move mechanical matter to obtain data, the angle of entry on the source beamcan be

deflected by high-frequency sound waves in solids.The elimination ofmechanical access methods

reduces access times from milliseconds to microseconds.

Holographic Memory
ANGULAR MULTIPLEXING

When a reference beam recreates the source beam, it needs to be at the same angle itwas during

recording.A very small alteration in this angle will make theregenerated source beam

disappear. Harnessing this property, angular multiplexingchanges the angle of the source beam by very

minuscule amounts after each page ofdata is recorded. Depending on the sensitivity of the recording

material,thousands of pages of data can be stored in

thesamehologram,atthesamepointoflaserbeamentry.Staying away from conventional data access

systemswhich move mechanical matter to obtain data, the angle of entry on the source beamcan be

deflected by high-frequency sound waves in solids.The elimination ofmechanical access methods

reduces access times from milliseconds to microseconds.

WAVELENGTH MULTIPLEXING

Used mainly in conjunction with other multiplexing methods, wave length multiplexing alters the

wavelength of source and reference beams between recordings. Sending beams to the same point of

origin in the recording medium at different wavelengths allows multiple pages of data to be recorded. Due

to the small tuning range of lasers, however, this form of multiplexing is limited on its own.
SPATIAL MULTIPLEXING

Spatial multiplexing is the method of changing the point of entry of source and reference beams into the

recording medium. This form tends to break away from the non-mechanical paradigm because either the

medium or recording beams must be physically moved. Like wavelength multiplexing, this is combined

with other forms of multiplexing to maximize the amount of data stored in the holographic volume. Two

commonly used forms of spatial multiplexing are peristrophic multiplexing and shift multiplexing.

PHASE-ENCODED MULTIPLEXING

The form of multiplexing farthest away from using mechanical means to recordmany pages in the same

volume of a holograph is called phase-encodedmultiplexing.Ratherthanmanipulatethe angle of entry of a

laser beam or rotateor translate the recording medium, phase-encoded multiplexing changes thephaseof
individual parts of a reference beam.The main reference beam is splitupinto many smaller partial beams

which cover the same area as the original

reference beam.These smaller beamlets vary byphase which changes the state ofthe reference beam as

a whole.The reference beams intersects thesourcebeamand records the diffraction relative to the different

phases of the beamlets.The phase of the beamlets can be changed by non-mechanical means,

thereforespeeding up access times.

RECORDING ERRORS

When data is recorded in a holographic medium, certain factors can lead toerroneously recorded

data.One major factor is the electronic noise generated bylaser beams. When a laser beam is split up

( for example, through a SLM ),thegeneratedlight bleeds into places where light was meant to be blocked

out.Areas where zero light is desired might have minuscule amounts of laser lightpresent which mutates

its bit representation.For example, if too much light getsrecorded into this zero area representing a binary

0, an erroneous change to a binary1 might occur. Changes in both the quality of the laser beam and

recordingmaterial are being researched, but these improvements must take into
Holographic Memory
consideration the cost-effectiveness of aholographicmemory system.

Theselimitat

ions to current laser beam and photosensitive technology are some ofthemainfactorsforthe delay of

practical holographic memory systems.

PAGE-LEVEL PARITY BITS
Once error-free data is recorded into a hologram, methods which read data back out
of it need to be error free as well.Data in page format requires a new way to

provide error control.Current error control methods concentrate on a stream of bits.Because page data is

in the form of a two dimensional array, error correctionneeds to take into account the extra dimension of

bits.When a page of datais written to the holographic media, the page is separated into smaller two

dimensional arrays.These sub sections are appended with an additional row and

column of bits.The added bits calculate the parity of each row and column of

data.An odd number of bits in a row or column create a parity bit of 1 and an even

number of bits create a 0.A parity bit where the row and column meet is also

created which is called an overall parity bit.The sub sections are rejoined and sent

to the holographic medium for recording.

MERITS OF HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY

Holographic memory offers storage capacity of about 1 TB.Speed of retrieval of

data in tens of microseconds compared to data access time of almost 10ms offered

by the fastest hard disk today.By the time they are available they can transfer an

entire DVD movie in 30 seconds. Information search is also faster in holographic

memory.Consider the case of large databases that are stored on hard disk today. To

retrieve any piece of information you first provide some reference data.The data is

then searched by its address, track, sector and so on after which it is compared with

the reference data. In holographic storage entire pages can be retrieved where
contents of two or more pages can be compared optically without having to retrieve

the information contained in them. Also HDSS has no moving parts.So the

limitations of mechanical motion such as friction can be removed.

CHALLENGES

During the retrieval of data the reference beam has to be focused at exactly the

same angle at which it was projected during recording. A slight error can cause a

wrong data page to be accessed.It is difficult to obtain that much of accuracy. The

crystal used as the photographic filament must have exact optical characteristics

such as high diffraction efficiency, storage of data safely without any erasure and

fast erasure on application of external stimulus light ultra violet rays.With the

repeated number of accesses the holograms will tend to decay.

POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS

There are many possible applications of holographic memory.

Holographic memory systems can potentially provide the high-speed transfers and

large volumes of future computer systems.One possible application is data mining.

Data mining is the process of finding patterns in large amounts of data.Data

mining is used greatly in large databases which hold possible patterns whichcan’t be distinguished by

human eyes due to the vast amount of data. Somecurrent computer systems implement data mining, but

the mass amount of

storagerequiredispushingthe limits of current data storage systems.The many

advances in access times and data storage capacity that holographic memory

provides could exceed conventional storage and speed up data mining considerably.

This would result in more located patterns in a shorter amount of time.

Another possible application of holographic memory is in petaflop

computing.A petaflop is a thousand trillion floating point operations per second.

The fast access in extremely large amounts of data provided by holographic

memory systems could be utilized in petaflop architecture.Clearly advances are
needed in more than memory systems, but the theoretical schematics do exist
forsucha machine.Optical storage such as holographic memory provide a viable

solution to the extreme amount of data

which is required for petaflop computing.

Holographic memory can be used as extended DRAM with 10ns access

time, Hard disk drives ,CD ROMs of large storage capacity and rockmounted

(combining numerous DASDs) of petabytes storage capacity.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The research on holographic memory is taking place in well guarded and richcompanies like IBM,

ROCKWELL and InPhase.InPhase claims to have developeda holographic memory of size slightly larger

than a DVD. It has a capacity of about100GB. They are trying to push it upto 1TB.
IBM and ROCKWELL claims to have developed a recording medium less
sensitive than lithium niobate crystals.

HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY LAYOUT

Holographic Memory
HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY LAYOUT

The future of holographic memory is very promising.The page

access of data that holographic memory creates will provide a window into next
generation computing by adding another dimension to stored data.Finding

holograms in personal computers might be a bit longer off, however. The large costof high-tech optical

equipment would make small-scale systems implemented withholographic memory impractical.

Holographic memory will most likely be used in next generation

super computers where cost is not as muchofanissue.Current magnetic storage

devices remain far more cost effective than any other medium on the market.As
computer systems evolve, it is not unreasonable to believe that magnetic storage

will continue to do so.As mentioned earlier, however, these improvements are not

made on the conceptual level.The current storage in a personal computer operates

on the same principles used in the first magnetic data storage devices.The parallel

nature of holographic memory has many potential gains on serial storage methods.
However, many advances in optical technology and photosensitive materials
need to be made before we find holograms in computer systems.
REFERENCES
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