A memory application of light reflection from anisotropic microstructured thin films

Ellipsometric memories are optical memories based on the ellipsometric principle. They were proposed in 1994 for the first time and were examined by preliminary experiments using multi-layered thin film structures. Though this idea has a great potential for new high-capacity optical memories, the multi-layered thin film structures are not suitable in consideration of a large-scale fabrication from a master disc. To overcome this difficulty we propose an ellipsometric memory with anisotropic micro-structured surfaces. In the proposed memories, the ellipsometric parameters of reflected light from each cell are measured and the information is stored in an optically anisotropic micro-structured surface instead of in a multi-layered structure. This modification makes a large-scale production possible from a master disc using a conventional stamping technique. We carried out preliminary experiments using Mg, Ag and Al thin films with striped surfaces and confirmed the feasibility of this type of ellipsometric memory. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.