Multichannel Diode Laser Array Optical Recording

We are reporting the use of a monolithic array of individually addressable diode lasers as the source for multichannel optical recording. Simultaneous recording of closely spaced tracks has been shown to be effective in achieving extremely high data rates. Such systems have, heretofore, used individually modulated beams formed by splitting the output of an argon ion laser.1 Diode lasers are the preferred source for optical recording applications2 and the use of a monolithic array of high-power, single-mode diode lasers, which can be modulated directly and independently, represents a significant advance towards the realization of compact, efficient high-performance recording systems.