EFFECTS OF REFRACTIVE-INDEX MISMATCH ON 3-DIMENSIONAL OPTICAL DATA-STORAGE DENSITY IN A 2-PHOTON BLEACHING POLYMER

Reported is an investigation into the effect of spherical aberration c aused by the mismatch of the refractive indices between the recording material and its immersion medium on the three-dimensional optical dat a-storage density in a two-photon bleaching polymer. It is found both theoretically and experimentally that spherical aberration can be comp ensated for by a change in the tube length at which a microscope objec tive is operated in recording and reading processes. After compensatio n for the spherical aberration it is possible to achieve a three-dimen sional recording density of 3.5 Tbits/cm(3) for a commercial objective with a numerical aperture of 1.4. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America