Storage capacity determinations for two-photon 3-D optical data storage in a bichromophoric RET-based photochromic system

ORGN 458

Zhen-Li Huang, huangz@creol.ucf.edu, Gaetan Calbris, Claudia C. Corredor, ccorredo@mail.ucf.edu, and Kevin D. Belfield, belfield@mail.ucf.edu. Department of Chemistry and CREOL, College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816-2366
A two-photon 3D optical data storage system consisting of a bichromophoric mixture of diarylethene and fluorene derivative as the storage medium is presented herein. Binary information bits were recorded throughout all three dimensions of the storage medium by two-photon localized excitation on the diarylethene molecules, transforming the closed form of diarylethene into the open form. The readout method is based on the modulation of the two-photon fluorescence emission of fluorene by the closed form of diarylethene. The calculated Föster distances and critical concentrations suggest that a Förster-type RET mechanism is involved in this fluorescence modulation. To optimize the recording/readout condition and to estimate the storage capacity of this system, theoretical calculations on the laser intensity distribution inside the storage medium, bit size and the minimum distance between bits were performed.