Two-photon 3D optical data storage via fluorescence modulation of an efficient fluorene dye by a photochromic diarylethene

A novel two-photon 3D optical storage system based on the modulation of the fluorescence emission of a highly efficient two-photon absorbing fluorescent dye and a photochromic diarylethene was demonstrated. This system is suitable for recording data in thick storage media and providing a non-destructive readout method without exhibiting any apparent fatigue, even after 10,000 readout cycles. The 3D optical data storage based on two-photon processes provides a mechanism for writing and reading data with less crosstalk between multiple memory layers, due to the quadratic dependence of two-photon absorption (2PA) on the incident light intensity. The new system can be recorded and read out using the same wavelength in contrast to other writing/reading systems, in which the read and write wavelengths are well separated.