Power budget analysis of image-plane storage in spectral hole-burning materials

We analyze the power requirements of a volumetric storage system based on hole-burning materials. We consider an image-plane architecture that uses ultra-fine wavelength addressing. We perform an optimization study in which hole-depth, material thickness, and spot size are selected to minimize the system power budget. We find that a data rate of 10 Gbps and a latency of 10 μs can be achieved in a read-once system based on Eu–YSO with a total power budget of only 23 mW. The same material system designed to tolerate 1000 read cycles would require only a factor of 15 increase in power.