Phthalocyanine molecules with extremely strong two-photon absorption for 3D rewritable optical information storage

M. Drobizhev; N. S. Makarov; A. Rebane; H. Wolleb; H. Spahni

doi:10.1117/12.683506

29 August 2006 Phthalocyanine molecules with extremely strong two-photon absorption for 3D rewritable optical information storage

M. Drobizhev, N. S. Makarov, A. Rebane, H. Wolleb, H. Spahni

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6308, Photonics for Space Environments XI; 630803 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.683506
Event: SPIE Optics + Photonics, 2006, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Phthalocyanines (Pcs) show exceptional stability against high temperatures (up to 900°C, for certain metallophthalocyanines), harsh chemical environments (strong acids and bases), γ-radiation (up to 100 MRad) and neutron radiation (up to 10¹⁹ thermal neutrons/cm²). On the other hand, Pcs exhibit a number of unique physical properties, including semi-conductivity, photoconductivity, large linear and nonlinear optical coefficients, and the ability of photo-switch between two different forms, in case of non-symmetrical metal-free Pcs. This has led to an advancement of phthalocyanine-based prototype field-effect transistors, gas- and photo-sensors, solar cells, optical power limiters, and optical memory devices (CDs). For increasing the capacity of carriers of information, it has been suggested to use the effect of simultaneous two-photon absorption (2PA), which can allow for writing and reading information in many layers, thus resulting in Terabyte (TB) disks. Our estimation of the signal-to-noise ratio shows, however, that for fast (MB/s) processing, molecular 2PA cross section must be extremely large, σ₂ > 10³ - 10⁴ GM (1GM = 10^-50 cm⁴ s), which has not been achieved yet in any photochromic material. In this paper we demonstrate, for the first time, that some specially designed non-symmetric metal-free phthahlocyanines are almost ideally suited for TB rewritable memory due to their extremely high, resonantly enhanced, 2PA cross section (~ 104 GM) in near-IR region and their intrinsic ability of reversible photo-tautomerization at lowered (~ 100 K) temperatures. We discuss how the special technical specifications, such as short pulse laser excitation and lowered working temperature, can be satisfied for space and terrestrial application.

Citation Download Citation

M. Drobizhev, N. S. Makarov, A. Rebane, H. Wolleb, and H. Spahni "Phthalocyanine molecules with extremely strong two-photon absorption for 3D rewritable optical information storage", Proc. SPIE 6308, Photonics for Space Environments XI, 630803 (29 August 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.683506

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available