Super Laser Array Memory (SLAM)

The goal of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility and show the potential implementation of a robust optical storage system related to the optical near-field technique. This will lead to the development of new optical storage techniques with a larger capacity than the blu-ray format. The main drawback of a classical near-field optical head, its extremely small air gap, must be avoided. A dramatic increase in the air gap height should be obtained and, in the opinion of the proposers, this could be done by using supperresolution techniques, by making use of a priori information about the data stream, by implementing a potential coherent detection of the phase of the field reflected towards the probe and by micro -structuring the information pits. An optimum implementation of all these measures requires a detailed analysis of the electromagnetic field in the volume between the optical head and the information layer and an extensive theoretical and experimental study of the reading and recording properties of such an optical system.