Title of Paper: Compact Holographic Data Storage System
Principal Author: Dr. Tien-Hsin Chao
Abstract: Abstract: JPL, under current sponsorship from
NASA Earth Science Technology Office, is developing a high-density, nonvolatile
and rad-hard advanced Compact Holographic Data Storage (CHDS) system to enable
large-capacity, high-speed, low power consumption, and read/write of data for
potential commercial and NASA space applications. This CHDS consists of laser
diodes, photorefractive crystal, spatial light modulator, photodetector array,
and I/O electronic interface. In operation, pages of information would be
recorded and retrieved with random access and high-speed. The nonvolatile,
rad-hard characteristics of the holographic memory will provide a revolutionary
memory technology to enhance mission capabilities for all NASA’s Earth Science
Mission.
JPL is investigating an innovative angular multiplexing scheme for the
holographic data storage to maximize the storage capacity, data transfer rate,
and minimize the system volume. Moreover, due to the use of this electro-optic
beam steering technology, data can be recorded and retrieved without moving
parts. This is particularly suitable for space applications. A first prototype
of a Liquid Crystal Beam Steering Spatial Light Modulator has been developed
with an industrial collaborator. This device has been integrated to a
book-sized CHDS breadboard as the first step to record/retrieve high-speed,
high angular-resolution, random access beam steering for storing tens of
thousand of page of holographic data in a cubic photorefractive crystal.
In this paper, to date accomplishments in developing this CHDS at JPL will
be presented. The recent applications of the CHDS to optical pattern
recognition systems as a high density, high transfer rate memory bank will also
be discussed.