High throughput optical near-field aperture array for data storage

Abstract

To create and utilize a strong light source with sub-wavelength size has opened up a new field, the near-field optics. One of the most attractive applications of the near-field optics is the next generation optical data storage. The optical memory with high density and high data transfer rate is highly demanded to utilize an array of high throughput nano-scaled light sources for writing and reading bits on a medium. In this paper, we propose a hybrid laser and aperture array for optical near-field memory head, namely VCSEL/NSOM. A systematic investigation of the optical performance of the near-field light at the apertures of the Si micromachined tip array is presented. A primarily result of writing and reading bits on a phase change medium using the fabricated structure is demonstrated.