HOLOGRAPHIC STORAGE TECHNOLOGY

A Technical Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
In

ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

By K.VARUN KUMAR (09PQ1A0463)

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering ANURAG COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

(Approved by A.I.C.T.E New Delhi, Affiliated to J.N.T.U. Hyderabad) Aushapur(V), Ghatkesar(M), R.R.Dist- 501301 2012-2013

ANURAG COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

(Approved by A.I.C.T.E New Delhi, Affiliated to J.N.T.U. Hyderabad) Aushapur(V), Ghatkesar(M), R.R.Dist- 501301

2012-2013

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering

Bonafide Certificate
This is to certify that the Technical Report entitled HOLOGRAPHIC STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, is being submitted by KANDUKURI VARUN KUMAR bearing the Regd. No. 09PQ1A0463 in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology in ELECTRNOICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING is a record of confide work carried out by him under my guidance and supervision during the academic year 20122013 and it has been found worthy of acceptance according to the requirements of the university.

Guide

Head of the Department

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I have successfully completed my technical report. It happens only because of some auxiliary co-operation from some people.

K.VARUN 09PQ1A0463

ABSTRACT
Devices that use light to store and read data have been the backbone of data storage for nearly two decades. Compact discs revolutionized data storage in the early 1980s, allowing multi-megabytes of data to be stored on a disc that has a diameter of a mere 12 centimeters and a thickness of about 1.2 millimeters. 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, which is equivalent to about one hour and 15 minutes of music, but Sony has plans to release a 1.3-gigabyte (GB) high-capacity CD. A double-sided, double-layer DVD can hold 15.9 GB of data, which is about eight hours of movies. These conventional storage mediums meet today's storage needs, but storage technologies have to evolve to keep pace with increasing consumer demand. CDs, DVDs and magnetic storage all store bits of information on the surface of a recording medium. In order to increase storage capabilities, scientists are now working on a new optical storage method, called holographic memory, that will 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 store more information in a smaller space and offer faster data transfer times

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. COMPACT DISK DIGITAL VERSATILE DISK BLUR-RAY DISK

2. HOLOGRAPHIC DATA STORAGE

HOLGRAPHY DESKTOP HOLOGRAPHIC DATA STORAGE THE HOLOGRAPHIC DATA 2.4. RECORDING OF DATA IN HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY SYSTEMS 2.5. RETRIEVING OF DATA IN HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY SYSTEMS 2.6. PAGE DATA ACCESS 2.7. RECORDING ERRORS 2.8. PAGE LEVEL PARITY BITS 3. MERITS & CHALLENGES OF HOLOGRAPHIC STORAGE 3.1. MERITS OF HOLOGRAPHHIC MEMORY 3.2. CHALLENGES 4. POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS 5. CONCLUSION 6. REFERENCES

2.1. 2.2. 2.3.

LIST OF FIGURES
FIG 1.1 FIG 1.2 FIG 1.3 FIG 1.4 FIG 1.5 FIG 1.6 FIG 2.1 FIG 2.2 FIG 2.3 CROSS SECTION OF CD REFLECTION OF LASER IN CD REFLECTION OF LASER ON PIT TRACK OF CD TRACK OF DVD DVD Vs. BLU-RAY CONSTRUCTION HOLOGRAHIC DATA STORAGE SYSTEM WRITING OF DATA READING OF DATA

1. INTRODUCTION

The hologram was invented in 1947 by Dennis Gabor to record images in a medium (e.g., a crystal). It has a very unique feature, namely, any small part of the medium contains all information about the image. Therefore, even if the medium is broken into pieces, the entire image can still be obtained from any piece, except the resolution is reduced. Holographic memory offers the possibility of storing 1 terabyte (TB) of data in a sugar-cube-sized crystal. A terabyte of data equals 1,000 gigabytes, 1 million megabytes or 1 trillion bytes. Data from more than 1,000 CDs could fit on a holographic memory system. Most computer hard drives only hold 80 to 160 GB of data, a small fraction of what a holographic memory system might hold. Polaroid scientist Pieter J. van Heerden first proposed the idea of holographic (three-dimensional) storage in the early 1960s. A decade later, scientists at RCA Laboratories demonstrated the technology by recording 500 holograms in an iron-doped lithium-niobate crystal, and 550 holograms of high-resolution images in a light-sensitive polymer material. Devices that use light to store and read data have been the backbone of data storage for nearly two decades. It started from CDs which can store 700MB and has moderate speed. Then came DVD which can store up to 17 GB and has speed up to 10 Mbps. Recently in 2006 ,BLU-RAY disc was launched which has capacity up to 54 GB and speed of 36 Mbps. But looking to the future we need to go ahead and find a better way of storing data, a easier way which is far more better in speed as well as memory. In to achieve this scientist have proposed a new technology which uses 3-D layers instead of conventional 2-D. This technology is named HOLOGRAPHIC DATA STORAGE 1.1 COMPACT DISC(CD): Most of a CD consists of an injection-molded piece of clear polycarbonate plastic. During manufacturing, this plastic is impressed with microscopic bumps arranged as a single, continuous, extremely long spiral track of data. A CD has a single spiral track of data, circling from the inside of the disc to the outside. The elongated bumps that make up the track are each 0.5 microns wide, a minimum of 0.83 microns long and 125 nanometers high.

FIG 1.1 CROSS SECTION OF CD

A label layer B protection layer C Data layer (reflection layer) D protection layer (transparent) E Logical 0 (bump) F Logical 1 (pit)

DATA RETRIEVAL IN CD: The data in the cd is stored in these extremely small bumps. The data is retrieved with the help of a red laser beam in the manner as shown.

FIG 1.2 REFLECTION OF LASER IN CD

In the first image, we see that the laser (A), reflects (Image 1) on the bump. The reflected laser light however does not seem to reach the sensor (B). The CD-player interprets this as a logical ZERO.

FIG 1.3 REFLECTION OF LASER ON PIT

In the second image we see a reflection on a pit (Image 2). Here we see that the reflected laser light DOES reach the sensor (B). This is being interpreted by the CDplayer as a logical ONE. The incredibly small dimensions of the bumps make the spiral track on a CD extremely long. If we could lift the data track off a CD and stretch it out into a straight line, it would be 0.5 microns wide and almost 3.5 miles (5 km) long 1.2 DIGITAL VERSATILE DISC(DVD): DVDs are of the same diameter and thickness as CDs, and they are made using some of the same materials and manufacturing methods. Like a CD, the data on a DVD is encoded in the form of small pits and bumps in the track of the disc. The elongated bumps that make up the track are each 320 nanometers wide, a minimum of 400 nanometers long and 120 nanometers high. The biggest advantage of a DVD over a CD is that the pits and the tracks in DVD are smaller so that it takes less space than a DVD to store the same amount of data. Thus physically tighter spacing of pits on a DVD increases its storing capabilities.

FIG 1.4 TRACK OF CD

FIG 1.5 TRACK OF DVD

1.3 BLU-RAY DISC:

The movie industry has set a revolution with the introduction of Blu-ray Discs (BD) in 2006. With their high storage capacity, Blu-ray discs can hold and play back large quantities of high-definition video and audio, as well as photos, data and other digital content. Unlike current DVDs, which use a red laser to read and write data, Bluray uses a blue laser. A blue laser has a shorter wavelength (405 nanometers) than a red laser (650 nanometers). The smaller beam focuses more precisely, enabling it to read information recorded in pits that are only 0.15 microns (m) long. Because of this in a Blu-ray the track pitch has been reduced from 0.74 microns to 0.32 microns.

FIG 1.6 DVD Vs. BLU-RAY CONSTRUCTION

2. HOLOGRAPHIC DATA STORAGE

2.1 HOLOGRAPHY:
A hologram is a block or sheet of photosensitive material which records the interference of two light sources. To create a hologram, laser light is first split into two beams, a source beam and a reference beam. The source beam is then manipulated and sent into the photosensitive material. Once inside this material, it intersects the reference beam and the resulting interference of laser light is recorded on the photosensitive material, resulting in a hologram. Once a hologram is recorded, it can be viewed with only the reference beam. The reference beam is projected into the hologram at the exact angle it was projected during recording. When this light hits the recorded diffraction pattern, the source beam is regenerated out of the refracted light. An exact copy of the source beam is sent out of the hologram and can be read by optical sensors. For example, 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. A recording material which can recreate recorded images out of natural light is used so the consumer does not need hightech equipment to view the information stored in the hologram. Natural light becomes the reference beam and human eyes 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.

DESKTOP HOLOGRAPHIC DATA STORAGE

After more than 30 years of research and development, a desktop holographic storage system (HDSS) is close at hand. Early holographic data storage devices will have capacities of 125 GB and transfer rates of about 40 MB per second. Eventually, these devices could have storage capacities of 1 TB and data rates of more than 1 GB per second -- fast enough to transfer an entire DVD movie in 30 seconds. So why has it taken so long to develop an HDSS, and what is there left to do? Like other media, holographic media is divided into write once (where the storage medium undergoes some irreversible change), and rewritable media (where the change is reversible). Rewritable holographic storage can be achieved via the photorefractive effect in crystals.

2.2 The HOLOGRAPHIC DATA STORAGE SYSTEM: Prototypes developed by Lucent and IBM differ slightly, but most holographic data storage systems (HDSS) are based on the same concept. Here are the basic components that are needed to construct an HDSS:

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 (CCD) camera

FIG 2.1 HOLOGRAPHIC DATA STORAGE SYSTEM

When the blue-green argon laser is fired, a beam splitter creates two beams. One beam, called the object or signal beam, will go straight, bounce off one mirror and travel through a spatial-light modulator (SLM). An SLM is a liquid crystal display (LCD) that shows pages of raw binary data as clear and dark boxes. The information from the page of binary code is carried by the signal beam around to the light-sensitive lithiumniobate crystal. Some systems use a photopolymer 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 data carried by the signal beam in a specific area in the crystal -- the data is stored as a hologram.

An advantage of a holographic memory system is that an entire page of data can be retrieved quickly and at one time. In order to retrieve and reconstruct the holographic page of data stored in the crystal, the reference beam is shined into the crystal at exactly the same angle at which it entered to store that page of data. Each page of data is stored in a different area of the crystal, 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 projected onto the charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, which interprets and forwards the digital information to a computer. The key component of any holographic data storage system is the angle at which the second reference beam is fired at the crystal to retrieve a page of data. It must match the original reference beam angle exactly. A difference of just a thousandth of a millimeter will result in failure to retrieve that page of data.

2.4 RECORDING OF DATA IN HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY SYSTEM

When the blue-green argon laser is fired, a beam splitter creates two beams. One beam, called the object or signal beam, will go straight, bounce off one mirror and travel through a spatial-light modulator (SLM). An SLM is a Liquid crystal display (LCD) that shows pages of raw binary data as clear and dark boxes. The information from the page of binary code is carried by the signal beam around to the light-sensitive lithium-niobate crystal. Some systems use a photopolymer 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 data carried by the signal beam in a specific area in the crystal - the data is stored as a hologram.
FIG. 2.2 WRITING OF DATA

2.5 RETRIEVAL OF DATA FROM HOLOGRAPHIC MEMORY SYSTEM

An advantage of a holographic memory system is that an entire page of data can be retrieved quickly and at one time. In order to retrieve and reconstruct the holographic page of data stored in the crystal, the reference beam !s shined into the crystal at exactly the same angle at which it entered to store that oage of data. Each page of data is stored in a different area of the crystal, 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 Laser page is then projected onto the charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, which interprets and forwards the digital Formation to a computer.

CCD is a 2-D array of thousands or millions of tiny solar cells, each of which 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. In a CCD device, the charge is actually transported across the chip and read at one corner of the array. An analog-to-digital converter turns each pixel's value into a digital value. CCDs use a special manufacturing process to create the ability to transport charge across the chip without distortion. This process leads to very high-quality sensors in terms of fidelity and light sensitivity. CCD sensors have been mass produced for a longer period of time, so they are more mature. They tend to have higher quality and more pixels. The key component of any holographic data storage system is the angle at which the second reference beam is fired at the crystal to retrieve a page of data. It must match the original reference beam angle exactly. A difference of just a thousandth of a millimeter will result in failure to retrieve that page of data.
Recording medium

011101010101001010

Recovered Data FIG 2.3 READING OF DATA

2.6 PAGE DATA ACCESS

Because data is stored as page data in a hologram, the retrieval of this data must also be in this form. Page data access is the method of reading stored data in sheets, not serially as in conventional storage systems. It was mentioned in the introduction that conventional storage was reaching its fundamental 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 a stream of 32 bits is sent to a processing unit by a conventional read head,a holographic memory system would in turn send 32 x 32 bits, or 1024 bits due to its added dimension. This provides very fast access times in volumes far greater than serial access methods.

The volume could be one Megabit per page using a SLM resolution of 1024 x 1024 bits at 15-20 microns per pixel.

2.7 RECORDING ERRORS

When data is recorded in a holographic medium, certain factors can lead to erroneously recorded data. One major factor is the electronic noise generated by laser beams. When a laser beam is split up ( for example, through a SLM ), the generated light bleeds into places where light was meant to be blocked out. Areas where zero light is desired might have minuscule amounts of laser light present which mutates its bit representation. For example, if too much light gets recorded into this zero area representing a binary 0, an erroneous change to a binary 1 might occur. Changes in both the quality of the laser beam and recording material are being researched, but these improvements must take into consideration the cost-effectiveness of a holographic memory system. These limitations to current laser beam and photosensitive technology are some of the main factors for the delay of practical holographic memory systems.

2.8 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 correction needs to take into account the extra dimension of bits. When a page of data is 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. 3. MERITS & CHALLENGES OF HOLOGRAPHIC STORAGE

3.1 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. 3.2 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.

4. 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 miningis used greatly in large databases which hold possible patterns which can.t be distinguished by human eyes due to the vast amount of data. Some current computer systems implement data mining, but the mass amount of storage required is pushing the limits of current data storage systems. The many advances inaccess 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 couldbe utilized in a petaflop architecture. Clearly advances are needed in more than memory systems, but the theoretical schematics do exist for such a 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 VS. CONVENTIONAL STORAGE DEVICES

Storage Medium Access Time
2.4 us Holographic Memory 10 -4 0 ns Main Memory (RA M) Magnetic Disk 8.3 ms 5 -20 MB/s 100 Mbits/cm2 5 MB/s 4.0 Mbits/cm2

Data Transfer Rate

lOGB/s

Storage Capacity
400 Mbits/cm2

5. CONCLUSION
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 cost of high-tech optical equipment would make small-scale systems implemented with holographic memory impractical. Holographicmemory will most likely be used in next generation super computers where cost is not as much of an issue. Currentmagnetic 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.

6. REFERENCES

1. http://www.howstuffworks.com

2. http://www.sandj@cda.mrs.umn.edu

3. http ://www. stanford.edu/~svngam/