News

posted on 29 February 2008 22:20

Rewritable holographic disks may be closer as a result of a discovery at the University of Arizona.

Currently holgraphic storage disks are WORM devices : Write Once; Read Many. Focused laser light in Inphase disks causes a one way change in the recording medium. A scientist, Dr Nasser Peyghambarian at the University of Arizona in Tucson, may have found the key to rewritable holograpphic disks.

In his project the focussed laser light alters electron distribution in the new recording medium area which it hits. This creates changes in the refractive properties of that area and these form the hologram's diffraction pattern which can be read.

But writing new data can be done with a new laser beam which redistributes the electrons.

In theory this can be done as many times as desired. However it takes minutes to change from one hologram to another. If, and it is a big if, this can be done fast enough then a science writer's fantasy is moving holograms. We storage people would settle for a writable holographic data storage disk.

To see a video click here.