NASA 1996 SBIR Phase I

PROJECT TITLE : Multi-Layer Optical Tape Technology Utilizing Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Films

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)

NASA's missions require compact, fast, high density optical data storage units that surpass current technology by at least two orders of magnitude. This demands a data storage capacity of 1 TB/unit and data rates exceeding 1 gigabit/sec. Optical tape has a very high volumetric storage capacity and extremely low media cost. The technological risk is low because the lasers and optics are an extension of the components used in optical disk drives. Current state-of-the-art optical tape is based on a single layer approach. However, the capacity is limited by the smallest data mark size and the data rate is limited by the scanning speed of the tape. Additional engineering problems include wear and contamination's due to debris. We. propose a novel optical tape technology that can overcome the limitations associated with conventional optical tape technology and increase both the capacity and data rate by a factor of 100. This technology is based on the unique selective reflection properties of cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) films. Up to 100 CLC films can be stacked in a multilayer structure and individually addressed by wavelength and polarization multiplexing. We have demonstrated the feasibility of multilayer CLC media by recording and reading optical disks.

There are many systems and situations in both space missions and commercial applications that require terabyte storage capacity and attendant gigabits/sec I/O rates. That is why the proposed technology is so vital to develop. For instance, fluid dynamics codes for flight simulation are capable of generating large blocks of data due to their intensive requirement for spatial and temporal information content. Earth- monitoring as well as space exploration satellites will need the ability to store and quickly retrieve reconnaissance data. In the commercial sector, industries which require systems to archive large data bases include insurance firm, banks and telecommunications firms. Hence, Reveo foresees a lucrative market developing in the near term for such data storage systems.

Wolfgang Schlichting (schlicht@reveo.com)
Reveo, Inc.
8 Skyline Drive
Hawthorne, NY 10532

Reveo, Inc.
8 Skyline Drive
Hawthorne, NY 10532