Abstract

Photocurrent switching for nondestructive readout of photochromic memory is reported. The photoisomerization of a diarylethene (DAE) molecule in a memory layer switched the photocurrent generated by laser light irradiation. The switching is based on an ionization potential change of the DAE molecules. Excellent ON-OFF ratio of photocurrent was achieved by the irradiation at 780 nm. When the pulsed laser light with a wavelength of 780 nm was repeatedly irradiated to the colored (recorded) and uncolored (initial) memory states, no change of the photocurrent signal levels was observed even after 800×10³ cycles, indicating a successful demonstration of the nondestructive readout.

© 2011 Optical Society of America