We design, built, and demonstrated a photocathode based pulsed electron system to produce optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) for next generation data storage. We successfully demonstrated 10ps pulses of up to 106 electrons and used those pulses to form OSL patterns in LiF without causing mechanical damage. By adjusting the accelerating voltage, we were able to vary the ratio of red to green optical emission, demonstrating a potential path for increasing storage density using orthogonal encoding. We also modeled a new approach to reading data that exploits the unique nature of OSL based data storage where the writing and reading processes have different size scales. Based on the technical demonstrations, we developed a roadmap to increase the storage density beyond 50TB using a standard 5.25” optical storage disc.
Revised: September 27, 2018 |
Published: May 24, 2016