Pál Koppa

Amplitude, phase, and hybrid ternary modulation modes of a twisted-nematic liquid-crystal display at ∼400 nm

Applicability of a commercial twisted-nematic liquid-crystal display is examined at ∼400 nm. Different modulation modes predicted by Jones-matrix calculus are experimentally tested. High contrast amplitude modulation with negligible loss, high contrast and low loss hybrid ternary modulation, and 1.5π continuous phase delay without intensity modulation and with low loss are presented. Simulation results of a 4f holographic system prove the usefulness of the high contrast for amplitude modulation, and the importance of π phase difference between high transmission white levels in a hybrid ternary modulation.

Physics and technology of optical storage in polymer thin films

Abstract We discuss different strategies for optical storage of information in polymeric films. An outline of the existing trends is given. The synthesis and characterization of side-chain azobenzene polyester films for holographic storage of information is described. A compact holographic memory card system based on polarization holography is described. A storage density of greater than 10MB/cm 2 has been achieved so far, with a potential increase to 100MB/cm 2 using multiplexing techniques and software correction. Finally the role of surface relief in azobenzene polymers on irradiation with polarized light is mentioned.

Phase-to-amplitude data page conversion for holographic storage and optical encryption

A new phase-to-amplitude data page conversion method is proposed for efficient recovery of the data encoded in phase-modulated data pages used in holographic storage and optical encryption. The method is based on the interference between the data page and its copy shifted by an integral number of pixels. Key properties such as Fourier plane homogeneity, bit error rate, and positioning tolerances are investigated by computer modeling, and a comparison is provided with amplitude-modulated data page holographic storage with and without static phase masks. The feasibility and the basic properties of the proposed method are experimentally demonstrated. The results show that phase-modulated data pages can be used efficiently with reduced system complexity.

Modeling of multilayer microholographic data storage

We focus on the investigation of multilayer recording in microholographic data storage. We have developed a numerical model for calculating the electromagnetic scattering from thick microholographic gratings using the Born approximation and the direct volume integral. The signal-to-noise ratio and bit error rate were calculated to estimate the noise arising from interlayer and interhologram cross talk. Measurements were done to prove the validity of the model. The results of our calculations and the measurements show good agreement. We present the application of the model to the investigation of confocal filtering at the image plane and to the evaluation of positioning and wavelength tolerances.

Ternary phase-amplitude modulation with twisted nematic liquid crystal displays for Fourier-plane light homogenization in holographic data storage

Summary Holographic data storage applications often use liquid crystal displays as spatial light-amplitude modulators for writing data images. The hologram created in the Fourier plane is usually applied to store the information, since this plane supplies optimal data density. A well known technique for homogenizing the light distribution in the Fourier plane is the application of external random phase modulating masks. The requirement for pixel by pixel matched positioning of the phase modulating mask and the pixels of the spatial light-amplitude modulator is hard to solve in the optical systems and any positioning error leads to significant signal degradations. The article analyses the possibilities of realizing the required simultaneous amplitude and phase modulation of light with the application of a single LCD. Twisted nematic LCDs with different maximal birefringence are numerically investigated using the Jones matrix method. Elliptical incident and exit polarizations are proposed, by which ternary phase-amplitude modulation (+1,–1,0) can be realized. Test measurements are also presented that demonstrate the validity of the calculated results.

Hybrid multinary modulation using a phase modulating spatial light modulator and a low-pass spatial filter.

We propose a method for performing binary intensity and continuous phase modulation of beams with a spatial light modulator (SLM) and a low-pass spatial filtering 4-f system. With our method it is possible to avoid the use of phase masks in holographic data storage systems or to enhance the phase encoding of the SLM by making it capable of binary amplitude modulation. The data storage capabilities and the limitations of the method are studied.

System modeling and optimization of Fourier holographic memory

A new fast-Fourier-transform-based model of a page-oriented holographic data-storage system is presented. The model accounts for essential system and storage material features (e.g. diffraction, noises, and saturation) and provides reliable results in the form of output images, histograms, or bit-error rates. The model is built on a modular basis and provides the possibility of working with different system versions, key components, and storage materials. Applications of the method are presented through examples of optimization of the data density, reference beam size at Gaussian beam illumination, and calculation of the storage mediums positioning tolerances in accordance with the results of test measurements.

A secure data storage system based on phase-encoded thin polarization holograms

A novel secure data storage architecture based on phase-encoded, thin film, Fourier-type polarization holograms is reported. Efficient data encryption and verification can be obtained by phase modulation of the reference wave introduced by a phase-type spatial light modulator that is imaged onto the hologram plane. A physical model is formulated including phase-encoding, non-linear storage medium behaviour and features of the proposed optical system. A method is proposed and implemented in the form of a custom modelling tool for generating code sets optimal in terms of code number and security level. The utility of the architecture and the achievable security level are experimentally demonstrated.

Computer simulation of reflective volume grating holographic data storage

The shift selectivity of a reflective-type spherical reference wave volume hologram is investigated using a nonparaxial numerical modeling based on a multiple-thin-layer implementation of a volume integral equation. The method can be easily parallelized on multiple computers. According to the results, the falloff of the diffraction efficiency due to the readout shift shows neither Bragg zeros nor oscillation with our parameter set. This agrees with our earlier study of smaller and transmissive holograms. Interhologram cross talk of shift-multiplexed holograms is also modeled using the same method, together with sparse modulation block coding and correlation decoding of data. Signal-to-noise ratio and raw bit error rate values are calculated.

Quantitative security evaluation of optical encryption using hybrid phase- and amplitude-modulated keys

In the increasing number of system approaches published in the field of optical encryption, the security level of the system is evaluated by qualitative and empirical methods. To quantify the security of the optical system, we propose to use the equivalent of the key length routinely used in algorithmic encryption. We provide a calculation method of the number of independent keys and deduce the binary key length for optical data encryption. We then investigate and optimize the key length of the combined phase- and amplitude-modulated key encryption in the holographic storage environment, which is one of the promising solutions for the security enhancement of single- and double-random phase-encoding encryption and storage systems. We show that a substantial growth of the key length can be achieved by optimized phase and amplitude modulation compared to phase-only encryption. We also provide experimental confirmation of the model results.