3-D optical data storage and recovery in intersecting waveguide- encoded lattices Fariha Mahmood , Kathryn A. Benincasa, and Kalaichelvi Saravanamuttu Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada We fabricate polymers embedded with lattices consisting of thousands of light-guiding filaments (waveguides) in a single-step process using incoherent light sources and a grid amplitude mask. Inscription of multiple highly intersecting waveguide lattices can be accomplished simply through the use of multiple-angled sources. Each waveguide lattice accepts and guides light incident at a range of angles, described as the field-of-view or acceptance range of the lattice. The extent of this range depends on the refractive index contrast between the waveguide core and polymer background (Δn), as well as the angle at which the lattice is inscribed. In previous work, we have shown that these waveguide-encoded lattices (WELs) give rise to an enhanced field-of-view relative to a control polymer without waveguides. In this work, we demonstrate information storage within these structures, which is accomplished through selective reduction of Δn using masks. Information is subsequently recovered by illuminating the structure at a specific incident angle. Despite the highly overlapping nature of the waveguide lattices and their corresponding fields-of-view, the information can be independently and selectively recovered.
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