Abstract

Volume holographic data storage holds the potential of storing data at a volumetric density of V/λ₃, where V is the volume of the storage material and λ the wavelength of light.¹ This theoretical limit could be reached by multiplexing L/λ data pages, each containing A/λ² bits of data, within a volume of thickness L and aperture A. To realize high capacity from this high density, multiple storage volumes are of- ten arranged with contiguous input apertures and a common thickness (i.e., rotating disks of thickness L², non-mechanical object-beam access).³ In this context, it is useful to discuss the areal density of holographic data storage: the amount of data in each storage volume divided by the aperture A.

© 2000 Optical Society of America