Holographic memory a storage device that records binary information in the form of holograms, which are produced (as interference patterns) on photographic or photochromic media by means of laser beams, and are read by means of low-power laser beams. The advantage of a hologram is the way in which the image is dispersed over the recording surface so that dust or scratches do not totally obscure data though they may reduce the contrast. Several projects have attempted to apply this technology but none have yet been commercially successful. [1]

Figure 1. The Advantages and Applications of Holographic Memory

Figure 1 shows Devices that use light to store and read data have been the backbone of data storage for nearly two decades. Compact discs revolutionized data storage in the early 1980s, allowing multi-megabytes of data to be stored on a disc that has a diameter of a mere 12 centimeters and a thickness of about 1.2 millimeters. In 1997, an improved version of the CD, called a digital versatile disc (DVD), was released, which enabled the storage of full-length movies on a single disc.

CDs and DVDs are the primary data storage methods for the music, software, personal computing and video. A CD can hold 783 megabytes of data, which is equivalent to about one hour and 15 minutes of music, but Sony has plans to release a 1.3-gigabyte (GB) high-capacity CD. A double-sided, double-layer DVD can hold 15.9 GB of data, which is about eight hours of movies. These conventional storage mediums meet today's storage needs, but storage technologies have to evolve to keep pace with increasing consumer demand. [2]

Advantages of Holographic Storage:

• Holographic memory offers a storage volume of around 1 TB. Speed of recovery of information in tens of microseconds contrasted with a data access time of practically 10ms offered by the quickest hard disk today. When they are accessible, they can move a whole movie picture in 30 seconds.
• Data pursuit is additionally quicker in holographic memory. In holographic capacity whole pages can be recovered where contents of at least two pages can be contrasted optically without having to recover the data contained in them. Likewise, HDSS has no moving parts. So, the constraints of mechanical movement, for example, the erosion can be evacuated.
• Protection from damage – If a few pieces of the medium are damaged, all data can still be acquired from other parts. All data can be recovered from any piece of the medium. [3]

References:

1. https://www.encyclopedia.com/computing/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/holographic-memory
2. https://computer.howstuffworks.com/holographic-memory.htm
3. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/holographic-data-storage/

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2021), Advantages and Applications of Holographic Memory, Anatechmaz, pp. 35