Patent ID: 7964333

Claim:
A three-dimensional (3-D) WORM (Write Once Read Many) or erasable and rewritable optical data storage device with non-destructive, multiple readout of 3-D data stored in multiple layers consisting essentially of: (a) a disk structure suitable for structurally supporting a storage medium in multiple layers; (b) said storage medium containing a combination of an isomeric photochrome selected from at least one of 1,2-bis(2-methylbenzo[b]thiophen-3-yl) hexafluorocyclopentene open form (diarylethene 1-open) and 1,2-bis(2-methylbenzo[b]thiophen-3-yl) hexafluorocyclopentene photostationary state (diarylethene 1-closed) and a two-photon fluorescent dye wherein the emission spectrum of the fluorescent dye overlaps the absorption spectrum of one of the isomers of the photochrome; (c) a recording system consisting of a single laser adapted to provide an incident recording intensity above and an incident readout intensity below a threshold for data recording by the combination of the two-photon fluorescent dye and isomeric photochrome; and (d) the recording system in combination with said storage medium supported by said disk structure operates as a Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) based optical data storage system wherein the recording system records data in the storage medium at a wavelength within a range between approximately 500-900 nm and with the incident recording intensity of approximately 90 mW/cm 2 and modulation of the two-photon fluorescent dye by the photochrome results in a non-destructive readout of data from the optical data storage device at the wavelength with the incident readout intensity of approximately 7 mW/cm 2 .