Dual state dye-doped elastomers for optical data storage

Abstract

The possibility of storing data in dual state dye-doped elastomer is presented. Data were recorded in dual-state chlorophyll immobilized by silicone. The samples were prepared by adsorbing 0.592 mM chlorophyll-doped elastomer with 0.0074 mM chlorophyll in acetone solution. A 25mW Q-switched Nd:YVO laser (CrystaLaser) with an output wavelength of 355-nm and a repetition rate of 20kHz was used in writing and reading the bits. It was detected that a two-minute exposure time can already yield a readable void and it was also observed that the visibility of voids is not affected by the concentration of the adsorbed chlorophyll.