NSF Young Investigator: Volume Holography for Optical Computing

本研究的目的是探讨体全息材料在光学计算中的应用。具体来说，我们建议研究两种光学系统，一种用于三维光存储，另一种用于并行光学矩阵处理。虽然存储器和矩阵处理器在计算中执行不同的功能，但这两种光学系统依赖于体全息的许多共同特性。例如，基本几何极限决定了两种系统的容量，光栅简并在存储中引起串扰噪声，但在矩阵乘法中起关键作用。因此，了解体全息和材料响应的基本性质是很重要的。初步研究表明，光折变晶体是存储和矩阵倍增的有希望的候选者。但是，噪声来源、固定技术和响应时间等实际问题仍有待解决。我们提出在光折变材料中进行体全息的研究。同时，我们计划探索其他体全息介质的机会，并将其光学性质与光折光材料的光学性质进行比较。我们还将研究将光存储器和矩阵处理器集成到现有电子计算机中的可能性。此外，光计算的新概念将在本研究中发展。* * *

9358318 Gu The objective of this research is to investigate the applications of volume holographic materials for optical computing. Specifically, we propose to investigate two optical systems, one for 3 dimensional optical storage and the other for parallel optical matrix processing. Although memory and matrix processor perform different functions in computing, the two optical systems rely on many common properties of volume holography. For example, the fundamental geometrical limit determines the capacity of both systems, and the grating degeneracy causes crosstalk noise in storage but plays a key role in matrix multiplication. Therefore, it is important to understand the fundamental properties of volume holography and material response. Preliminary investigation has demonstrated that photorefractive crystals are promising candidates for both storage and matrix multiplication. However, practical problems such as noise sources, fixing technique and response time remain to be solved. We propose to carry out the investigation on volume holography in photorefractive materials. At the same time, we plan to explore the opportunities of other volume holographic media and compare their optical properties with those of photorefractives. We will also investigate the possibility of incorporating the optical memory and matrix processor into existing electronic computers. Furthermore, new concepts for optical computing will be developed during this investigation. ***