Bit-wise optical data storage utilizing aluminum oxide single crystal medium

摘要

The present invention provides a system comprising a luminescent data storage medium and a source for writing information to the medium. The luminescent material is a single crystal of AL 2 O 3 comprising a first dopant of magnesium and a second dopant comprising carbon wherein the material includes at least one type of oxygen vacancy defect. The disclosure relates to writing and erasing of the information using photoionization via sequential two-photon absorption and non-destructive reading the information using one-photon absorption and confocal fluorescent detection. The apparatuses for writing and reading the information incorporate confocal detection and spherical aberration correction for multilayer volumetric fluorescent data storage. The methods also allow multilevel recording and readout of information for increased storage capacity.