Holographic Data Storage & Holographic Photonic Structures

Holography which involves the recording and reconstruction of complex interferograms, is a very useful tool with potential applications in many areas. A digital holographic disk (DHD), employing holographic principles for the storage and retrieval of huge amounts of data at fast parallel transfer rates, is envisaged as the next generation removable storage device after DVD and Blue Ray-DVD. Holographic data storage offers storage capacities of the order of many Terabytes on a disk. A holographic storage disk can support a transfer rates in Gb per second in comparison to current technology's few Mb per second.

Another recent application of holography is, to use it as a tool to fabricate large area nano-photonic structures. Nano-photonics promises captivating new fundamental physics, and new applications in low power, ultra-small devices performing at the quantum edge in a wide range of technologies such as information processing, telecommunications, medicine and biotechnologies. The fabrication of photonic structures on relevant length scales (i.e., nanometer, sub micrometer, and micrometer) can be achieved by means of various techniques such as electron or ion beam writing, deposition methods and self assembly. Holographic lithography is one potential method for creating large-area, defect-free structures both rapidly and cheaply.