Holography

Holography (from the Greek, Όλος-holos whole + γραφή-graphe writing) is the science of producing holograms, an advanced form of photography that allows an image to be recorded in three dimensions. The technique of holography can also be used to optically store and retrieve information. Holograms are common in science-fiction, most notably Star Trek, Star Wars, and Red Dwarf.

Holographic data storage

See the main article at holographic memory.

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Holography can be applied to a variety of uses other than recording images. Holographic data storage is a technique that can store information at high density inside crystals (à la HAL 9000) or photopolymers. As current storage techniques such as DVD reach the upper limit of possible data density (due to the diffraction limited size of the writing beams), holographic storage has the potential to become the next generation of storage media. The advantage of this type of data storage is that the volume of the recording media is used instead of just the surface.

Related Topics:
HAL 9000 - DVD - Diffraction

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Using currently available SLM's can produce about 1000 different images a second at 1024 X 1024 bit resolution. With the right type of media (probably polymers rather than something like LiNbO3), this would result in about 1 Gigabit per second writing speed. Read speeds can surpass this and experts believe 1 Terabit per second readout is possible.

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In 2005, the company Optware has produced a 120 mm disc that uses holographic surface to store data to a possible 1TB (terabyte). See Holographic Versatile Disc, for more information.

Related Topics:
Optware - Terabyte - Holographic Versatile Disc

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Other applications of holograms include metrology and optical computing.

Related Topics:
Metrology - Optical computing

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